This is what the Department of Tourism, through director Marie Venus Tan, is doing to promote the Philippine tourism industry. "We send out a lot of invitations to the travel, trade and lifestyle editors in such countries as Germany for them to come to the Philippines," says Tan. "We do this in partnership with airlines like China Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Malaysia Airlines, and the flag carriers of the Emirates and Qatar."
Tan recently welcomed 10 tour operators from Germany who attended the Philippine Travel Mart held at Clamshell 2 in Intramuros. After viewing the booths of the resorts, the group decided to visit Boracay, the No. 1 destination for the beach holiday and leisure niche.
"They were impressed by the natural beauty of the island and the unique beach life in the Philippines’ premier tourist destination," says Tan. "We stayed in Pink Patio, a cozy resort within walking distance from the bars, restaurants, curio shops and dive shops that line the five-kilometer white sand beach."
According to Tan, the visit changed the tour operators’ perception of the Philippines. There are guidebooks in Germany that do not speak well of the country. Said she: "After seeing Boracay, my guests said they would write protest notes to the authors of several German guidebooks for not saying good things about the country."
In 1998, 72,000 Germans visited places like Palawan, Bohol, Cebu, Boracay and Banaue. That was the height of German travel to the Philippines. The number steadily declined when PAL stopped flying to Frankfurt. With the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and the SARS scare, the number further declined. In 2002, Tan said only 45,000 Germans visited the Philippines.
In Boracay, the 10 tour operators acted like typical German tourists. They quietly enjoyed the facilities of Pink Patio, reading a book by the pool or having their favorite drink at the resort’s Apache Bar.
"They were amazed that a quiet resort like Pink Patio would have a world-class fitness gym complete with weight-lifting gadgets, treadmills and other state-of-the-art facilities," says Tan.
The German guests availed of the instructions of the resort’s gym manager on how to use the facilities according to the level of one’s physical needs. "Jack, the instructor, even taught some of my guests to rock-climb," says Tan. Pink Patio has an 11-meter rock wall just beside the gym.
Tan’s guests noted that they need not go far away from Pink Patio to enjoy Boracay. The resort has a wide swimming pool in the middle of the inner garden, very convenient for an early morning or late evening dip. There are also jacuzzi and sauna facilities, as well as aromatherapy and massage services.
The Germans dined at the resort’s Golden Bamboo Restaurant where local and foreign guests have a choice of Chinese, native and continental food. But their specialty is Chinese – authentic, distinctly Oriental recipes concocted by resort owner Charlie Uy himself.
After dinner, they hung around the Apache Bar for drinks, or had a sip of the resort’s aromatic home-brewed coffee at the Garden Cafe where they had a chat with Charee Guico, the resort sales manager, on the nice places to go to on the island.
Germans, said Tan, value their privacy very much when they visit a place. They also prefer to visit heritage sites like Banaue and the Underground River outside Puerto Princesa in Palawan.
"So I believe in preservation and conservation," says Tan. "In Germany, schoolchildren as young as four are brought to museums and art galleries to appreciate people, places and the arts. They are provided with reading materials on and pictures of other countries as well. This is how the culture of tourism education transforms the young Germans into the most traveled people of the world."
Tour operators, indeed, play a key role in promoting countries like the Philippines. With the German tour operators’ good impression of the country, it’s only a matter of time when the demand for the Philippines as tourist destination will pick up once again.