It won't be fun if...

Tourism won’t be “More fun in the Philippines” unless we concentrate on the products and educating our people, before we spend time and money on promotions.

After several out of town trips, I have no doubt that we have a long way to go beyond, slogans and Internet hype. After the initial success of the Department of Tourism in masterminding a catchy slogan, reality now bites.

To better understand this, the officials at the Department of Tourism, DTI and DOTC should undergo a training module with Anthony Pangilinan regarding customer relations and “Blue Ocean strategy”.

I went through such a training program courtesy of Anthony and the biggest take away I had in the program was the lesson: Experience your customers pain. In simple terms not even a wizard at marketing and promotions can solve the problems unless he himself experiences the “pain” that customers go through.

For our study group we started out with the problem: how to better sell an electric iron. To figure that out we acted as people intending to buy an iron at the biggest shopping center in town. First “pain” was finding where the irons were because there were no sign. The second pain was the “embarrassment” of asking for directions, the next “pain”, figuring out the features and trying to now how prices were determined.

Just as we were about to make a choice, we learned there were several other “dedicated” display areas. So now we had to choose based on features, price, and what the sales promo clerks were telling us.

It was a confusing 30 minutes because now we had to figure out what was the ideal iron based on the different buyers and different users. Until we went out to actually experience the “pain” of buyers, all of us assumed that “need” and disposable income determined how irons were bought or sold. It was not that simple and it was not painless for many buyers who were confused, embarrassed or felt harassed by promo clerks.

So just imagine what the typical “Turistang Kanin” or traditional Filipino tourists feels on the road or on a trip.

What I would add as a lesson is: Never create solutions or policies based simply on your lifestyle or economic status.

The fact of the matter is that most policy makers in government are of cabinet level or assistant secretaries or under secretaries. Given their rank and stature they are always given the VIP as in Very Important Person status. So they never really experience the “pain” of travelling by bus, boat or RORO regularly.

They never experience the “pain” of would be tourists who can’t find telephone numbers or websites that posts reliable information on prices, facilities or even schedules because their alalays send messengers. VIPs don’t experience sitting in passenger terminals where there are barely any electric fans to relieve Pinoy travellers from the heat, cramped space and seats, or the harassment from vendors who board air-con or regular buses, thereby increasing the possibility of hold-ups or theft from the unsuspecting.

VIPs also don’t realize the hassle of not being able to buy or book your return trip also in advance from Manila or vice versa because you are required to book in person. We had to cut our trip short because when we arrived at our latest destination last Friday, we learned all the return trips to Manila were fully booked except for a morning trip. So next time we have to bother a friend to drive to the local bus terminal to buy ahead for us!

Aside from going through the “pain” of tourists the DOT and DTI people should prioritize “product” enhancement before promotions because our destinations have problems.

First of all many of our tourist destinations are filthy! Whether you go to Old Manila or the City of Pines; Baguio City, I’m sorry to report that littering if not outright garbage is highly visible. Last Saturday I was once again in the summer capital of the Philippines where I spoke at the District Conference of Rotary Club district 3770.

Just before my scheduled talk, I decided to squeeze in an early morning walk around the old Camp John Hay and I was surprised to find several instances of “group littering” where people obviously parked their cars or vans, had a snack and simply threw their garbage along the road.

Visitors who are familiar with the glory days of Camp John Hay will be absolutely dismayed at the poor upkeep of cottages and attractions particularly in the historical core area where markers, statues have all faded or are laden with moss and stain.

Whoever is running the place obviously finds no value in putting up signs concerning personal discipline such as “No Littering”. Instead they place signs about entrance fees and the fact that you have to pay P1,000 for 4 hours of Photography. On the extreme side of this a souvenir shop at the Mile-Hi area posted: No Photography please!

In all my travels abroad, I know that only museums and some aquarium parks prohibit photography for security or safety of animals, but I certainly have not heard of tourist attractions charging P1,000 to take pictures therein or shops banning passerby’s from posing in front of their stores or with their products. Haven’t they heard of global promotion!

I know there are many good destinations and good things to talk about that makes it “More Fun in the Philippines”, but if the DOT, DOTC and the DTI can’t fix basic problems that affect regular tourists, then travelling in our country is only “More Fun for the VIPs and the rich in the Philippines”.

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