Sun and blue skies. Tribes and terraces. Lakes and caves. Churches and museums. Music and entertainment. Malls and stalls. Discotheques and bars. Cuisine. Fiestas and festivals. Hospitable, friendly, fun-loving people.
What a country! Truly a dream destination!
And yet, contrary to what is presently happening to our Asian neighbors, the Philippines is not welcoming the tourist, the traveler, the holidaymakers, the incentive winner, the businessman and the investor to our shores in the numbers it rightfully deserves.
So in search for some answers, we talked to some experts of our travel industry a few days ago and asked what the nation must have, what we must do – as a top priority – to bring back the warm bodies back to our islands. This is what they had to say. Let’s cross our fingers and read on.
Carlo Gomez, senior vice-president, Sales and Marketing, Aston Hotels International: There are short-term and long-term solutions to bring in more warm bodies to the Philippines. The short-term solutions call first for an immediate creation or re-creation of demand for the best tourist attraction of the country. Second, a focused public relations and advertising campaign must be undertaken. The long-term solutions will need a revised and focused marketing plan for the whole country that will show purpose, creativity and impeccable execution that can only come from excellent managers who will implement the plan. Most importantly, the marketing plan must be premised on peace and order, courtesy, cleanliness, etc.
I am all for making Manila, our beautiful city by the bay, the centerpiece of both our short and long term programs. Very few cities in Asia can rival its beauty and its tourism potential. Let us focus here and begin here. Manila does not only have the most interesting tourist products, it has by far the highest market recall. This makes it the best product for short and long term tourism goals. Let us, for example, create and develop the cultural pursuits and pageantry the city can lend itself to. Let us look for what is attractive and unique and the decision will not really come from us alone but from our identified market sources. Let us go back to our natural markets and our competition for they will tell us what more we can do to get more business.
Araceli Soriano, Tourism Attaché-Tokyo, Department of Tourism: We must immediately embark on an intensified awareness program – an image building campaign – reaching the most number of people at a fraction of the cost. In coordination with the other members of the travel industry such as airlines, hotels, resorts, tour operators and even restaurants, we should invite the world’s most influential media personalities – in great numbers on a grand scale – on hosted press trips to different destinations involving various activities with the interests of their viewers, listeners and readers in mind. Cognizant of the Philippine experience, the end results, without a doubt, would be an unbeatable exposure on television and radio through travel and lifestyle shows, feature spreads on broadsheets and pictorials on glossy magazines.
Tessie Henderson, president, Intas Travel and Tours Incorporated: We may have the most comprehensive promotion, sales and marketing plan to entice the traveler to visit our islands. We may even have the financial budget and the personnel compliment that goes with it for proper implementation. But sad to admit, if there is no political stability – forget it. Only very few, a selected few will ever come. One can preach the favorable reasons why they must visit till one turns blue in the face and yet still not accomplish one’s mission. So let there be political stability first. Then leave the selling to each individual on how best he can do promoting our islands. Everyone has a unique way of charming and convincing the holiday maker and the businessman to come and share the Philippine experience.
Enrique Javier, country manager - Philippine Airlines: Most countries, at one time or another, have experienced political turmoil, peace and order emergencies, economic crisis and social upheavals. The Philippines is no exception.
However, in my observation, the tourism and travel industry uses such unfortunate events as a scapegoat and reasons not to have achieved our goals on tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. We dwell on such dilemmas and don’t attack these predicaments head on.
We are familiar with the bombings in New York and Madrid, demonstrations in Paris and Johannesburg. Somehow they are able to get up on their feet in no time at all. They swing back almost immediately. They react positively. Before the days’ over, a business-as-usual, everything-back-to-normal campaign is hatched and soon thereafter goes on a full blast all over the globe. We have seen it happen before when the tourists stopped visiting Hong Kong and Thailand. And it worked. A countrywide crisis management in place. We need it now and we need it badly. Otherwise we go back to square one and lose years of hardwork everytime the country has a hiccup. For a young, growing nation such as ours, hiccups are unavoidable.
Marichi Del Rosario, district representative manager, Malaysian Airlines: The Philippines is blessed with awesome natural attractions. Every province has its own share of these God-given gifts. They are waiting to be discovered. But they will remain best kept secrets if the infrastructure is not in place. Let us also consider the accessibility problem. These two areas must be addressed as a top priority. We have so much to show and to share with the world. Let’s do it. Now!
Pearlie Arcache-Morales, director of public relations and officer-in-charge, Manila Sales Office Plantation Bay: The Philippines has a problem and an image that is perceived to be anything but positive. The peace and order situation is but one of them. But such negative perceptions can be overcome by the political will and a series of focused, coordinated campaigns. So what good is a destination then without the presence of an effective and efficient marketing and promotions personnel abroad constantly, tirelessly spreading the wonderful news. Our Tourism Attaches, our persons on the spot, must be highly qualified in the fields of sales, marketing, promotions and advertising, with hands-on experience on the marketplace and who have direct personalized contacts with the members of the tri-media together with the rest of the movers and doers of the global tourism scene. Most important of all they must love the country with a passion.
Remedios Raymundo, president and managing director, Southeast Travel Corporation: We have to tell the world we are here, an interesting unique Asian destination with the many beautiful sights to see and memorable moments to be experienced. The easiest but perhaps the most expensive way would be to hire a hot shot public relation and advertising agency to do the selling job on the Philippines. In the long run, this may be the most effective way wherein we can create and achieve the desired awareness right away. I still remember when Cathay Pacific Airways launched their Hongkong-New York flights. They had a full page advertisement in the New York Times. It was the buzz of New York. Everyone but everyone knew about the new service. Instant hit!
Betty Nelle, director, Office of Product, and Development, Department of Tourism: We need to improve our access through a truly liberalized aviation policy, develop our infrastructure and adopt a more effective marketing and promotions strategy to enhance our image abroad by way of image branding. We must have only one and must stick to it. Our promotions budget should be competitive to that of our Asean neighbors.
I believe the Philippines is blessed with all the natural assets to make it one of the top destinations in Asia. However, surveys conducted by the Department of Tourism show that the dirty environment and traffic are among the biggest turn-offs for tourists. This is where we need the help of the public sector in programs such as the clearing of garbage and cleaning of esteros. We should start with Manila as the primary gateway and premier city which is in dire need of a good facelift. Now that the Department has been elevated to a super Cabinet status, the National Government should give its all-out support to tourism, not only financially (as it has one of the lowest budgets and yet is one of the highest income and job-generating industries), but also support in enjoining the cooperation of our national government agencies, local government units and the legislative branch least we forget to mention the private sector to appreciate and lend assistance to our programs.
Domingo Ramon Enerio III, Tourism Attaché- Frankfurt, Department of Tourism: A pleasant image is essential in developing greater tourist and investment traffic into the Philippines. As such, image-building activities are necessary in developing a more wholesome perception of the Philippines in its key tourist market overseas. I once asked a Japanese friend of his honest opinion with regard to his perception of the country, and he answered me with one word – urasai (noisy). The Philippines must strive very hard to disabuse this thought from the minds of prospective clients, and re-introduce positive Filipino attractions, qualities and traits.
This is possible only if government is convinced that the country’s image is worth more than its price in gold. The commitment of government financial resources is thus indispensable in this effort. More importantly, government must veer away from its traditional administrative tendencies and approach this issue head-on through aggressive marketing and promotions efforts vis-a-vis the competition offered by our neighbors.
Atty. Ma. Victoria Jasmin, director, Office of Tourism Standards, Department of Tourism: Focus, focus, focus. We can’t promote 7,107 islands all at the same time. We should pour our resources to destinations that are ready to accept tourists in terms of infrastructure, facilities and human resources. It’s such a waste of time, effort and money if we spread ourselves to thin and attempt to promote so many destinations even if they are lacking in infrastructure.
Thailand concentrated on Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Indonesia has Bali and even Vietnam is focused on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.
Considering the limited resources, we should start to "consolidate rather than expand."