Tourism relies on selling, not nationalism

I admire the nationalistic streak of new tourism secretary Ramon Jimenez, who believes that in order to effectively sell the country, it is necessary to first sell the Philippines to Filipinos.

We must make Filipinos believe in the Philippines first before we can make others believe in us, Mr. Jimenez said, in words to that effect. There is no disputing that. But for practical reasons I believe a Filipinos-first policy is not what should be prioritized at the moment.

Look at it this way. Filipinos are already in the Philippines. Imbued with nationalism or not, if they feel like going around and having a little good time, they have no choice but to go around and have a good time in Philippine attractions and destinations.

Of course there are the lucky few who have the means to have their fun outside the country. But if they can do it elsewhere, there is no reason why they cannot do it here, if they have not done so already.

To those who really have the means, it is not a matter of where and how but of when. It all depends on the time they have in their hands. They do not need to be told or enticed. They go where the itch takes them to.

But most of us do not have that kind of luxury. We go where we can afford, when we can afford. And that means right here in the Philippines. So if we really need to sell the country, sell it to those who have a choice, in order for them to choose us.

And we have to do it now. If fact we needed to do it yesterday. Right now it is already too difficult to catch up with Malaysia, much less overtake it. Malaysia has been selling itself for years while all we did was watch.

Now Malaysia is reaping the fruits of its persistence and aggressiveness. It has become the only Southeast Asian country to be included in the top 10 tourist destinations of the world. And that is not because of Malaysians in that country but of others convinced of its beauty.

Yet there is no thing of beauty in Malaysia that is not found, and perhaps exceeded, in the Philippines. And we are no different from Malaysians in that we belong to the same race. On the other hand, our more open society makes us more attractive to foreign tourists than theirs.

So how come foreign tourists have made Malaysia among the top 10 tourist destinations in their world and relegated the Philippines way below the rankings? Because nobody knows about us except for the bad news that gets splashed worldwide on TV.

Look, in almost every foreign channel of importance on cable TV, hardly 15 minutes pass by that the viewer does not get to see a variation of that common and enduring promotional theme “Malaysia Truly Asia.”

The “Malaysia Truly Asia” promotional commercial is aggressive, consistent, persistent, and penetrating to the point of being mentally-conditioning. It reaches a point where, when a person in another country thinks of going somewhere, the thing that comes to mind is Malaysia.

But it is not just Malaysia. You know what I am beginning to notice — and memorize? Why, Mongolia! I do not mean any disrespect to that country and its people, but when Mongolia enters my brain, my tendency is to think “what the heck is Mongolia?”

Yet the Mongolia commercial is fast becoming a constant on the same channels that Malaysia employed to sell itself. It may not have the same budget as Malaysia, but Mongolia is making itself felt. Pretty soon it will condition a lot of brains into believing.

But the Mongolian commercial is not directed at its own people. Mongolia does not need to sell Mongolia to the Mongolians. It is selling itself to other people, including Filipinos, who up to this time do not know who to sell their country to, and where, and how.