Wow Philippines

Not a few observers credit Dick Gordon’s winning of a Senate seat to his having served as tourism secretary – a job that had taken him to many nooks and corners of the country and helped put it on foreign travel agents’ calendars as a must-see tourist destination. The man who replaced him at the post is himself making waves, drawing in just a few months after he took over record-breaking tourist arrival figures.

The name is Roberto Mamangon Pagdanganan, or Obet, for short. He and Dick have run non-parallel courses. While Dick made use of the tourism post as his password to getting elected as senator, Obet is at the post – after running for the Senate in the last election, although he lost that one. They, too, have different personalities.

Dick is flamboyant and charming with some people, but quite strict and obnoxious to those he finds sleeping on their jobs. Obet is quiet and soft-spoken, a pleasant person, the one who will be friendly with people on top, and those below. But both of them have the same ardent destination: To sell the Philippines.

I think Dick wowed his target arrivals with his festive fiestas, transformation of Intramuros into a fun place, and heavily-funded TV commercials on beaches, mardi gras-style street celebrations and pretty lasses.

No doubt Obet has taken up where Dick left off, although Obet has his own serious program of drumming up tourism. It’s a job, Obet says, that he’d thought in the past to be something he’d like to take on. The current selling slogans, "Wow Philippines 2004" and "Ganda ng Pilipinas, Galing ng Pilipino!" are part of his three-pronged strategy.

First is developing "a culture of tourism among Filipinos." Making Pinoys explore their country’s spots is happening – with the "cinco-cinco" package tours, for instance. For P555, a day’s tour (with transportation and meals), takes tourists to generally untrodden spots. The 555 package to Surigao City Island Escapade begins at 6 in the morning, taking tourists to Hidap Island, have breakfast by the beach, do spelunking at Buenavista Cave, canoeing to Sibate White Beach for swimming and snorkeling, have lunch at the park, take pictures at the Cantiasay-San Pedro footbridge, passing through the phenomenal RAZA island where they see the simultaneous high and low tide. At 5, the tired but happy tourists arrive back in Surigao city.

Similar one-day tours have been packaged for most of the regions. They mean jobs for people, and exciting school and company expeditions. In Southern Luzon, for example, a day’s tour covers the three municipalities enabling travelers to behold kiping decor in houses in Lucban, eat suman in Tayabas, and the agawan in Sariaya.

The second strategy is building a strong partnership with local government units and the private sector in the creation of such package tours. "Sa kanya-kanya dati," says Obet. "Now everybody’s in the picture – tourism councils, tour operators, and the private citizens."

The third strategy should wow foreign travellers. "We’re doing a balanced and focused marketing program," says Obet. "We’re promoting new areas – not only the known destinations like Boracay and Banawe rice terraces. We fit the products with the demand of the markets." For example, markets are being developed for golfers and divers, health and well-ness spas, exotic beaches – for travelers from China, Korea, Europe, Japanese and Americans.

Just three months after Pagdanganan took over came record-breaking figures, with tourist arrivals reaching an all-time high increase of 26.9 per cent in May, according to the monthly statistical report from the Bureau of Immigration at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Obviously, the threat of terrorism and fears of criminality as well as advisories of foreign embassies have had little effect on tourists.

According to the latest figures from NAIA, a 65.07 per cent growth rate was noted in the May 13 visitor arrivals as a result of the 5,071 tourists versus the 3,072 figure posted during the same period last year.

Pagdanganan targets the almost doubling of arrivals in the next four to five years. As of the latest figures, he says, "The increasing growth rate was attributed to the Ganda ng Pilipinas, Galing ng Pilipino (GP2) campaign of the department as part of the marketing efforts of the department to boost the country in the international market." He adds that the political stability of the Arroyo administration will further boost the tourist arrivals which he expects to reach 2.5 million by the end of the year – which is 14 per cent higher than the 2.2 million arrivals in 1997.

People don’t know that Obet has experience in marketing. He first finished the chemical engineering course summa cum laude, then the industrial marketing at Ashridge Management College at De La Salle University, and the international management course at the Unilever Training Center in England. He has a law degree, and a doctorate in education, honoris causa, from the Bulacan State University.

He first joined the government under then President Corazon Aquino as OIC governor of Bulacan; in three subsequent elections, he won the gubernatorial post hands down. In his incumbency as governor, the province achieved the highest average family income among all provinces, which, he says, was a direct result of the establishment of a strong cooperative movement and support for small and medium enterprises and big investors. He served as chair of the Cooperative Development Authority, and as Secretary of Agrarian Reform.

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