THE nation’s obsession with sloganeering is most felt in the sector of tourism, where it has become a tradition for every new secretary of the Department of Tourism (DOT) to adopt a slogan different from the previous administration. While marketing slogans might have their use and thus their reason for being, there is really no compelling need to change the tourism slogan every time a new administration takes over.
Our neighbors in ASEAN, Malaysia and Thailand, have not changed their tourism slogan and their basic tourism programs and priorities in the last several years, and yet they are enjoying a bigger share of the tourism market than the Philippines.
Former senator and tourism secretary Richard Gordon, asked by media about the DOT’s new slogan, “Love Philippines,” said having better infrastructure will help the country attract more tourists. He verbalized what many observers from various sectors have long been pointing out: that the warmest welcome gestures, the smartest marketing slogan, and similar intangibles in tourism are nothing if visitors experience the regular mess at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport — brownouts during long weekends and holidays, cancellation of flights, and problems of passengers being offloaded or bumped off due to local airlines’ overbooking, etc.
“It is really the culture of tourism that you want, not the slogan,” said Gordon, who was DOT secretary from 2001 to 2004.
‘… may we know the thoughts of the office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (Paul Soriano) on this embarrassing episode about “Love Philippines…”’
Another problem with slogans is that the “creatives” are tempted to copy from tourism promoters in other countries. Gordon said government spent millions for “It’s more fun in the Philippines” which was copied from “It’s more fun in Switzerland” in 1952.
The big issue about “Love Philippines” of Secretary Cristina Frasco is that the creative contractor of the video, DDB Philippines, used stock footage from the app Storyblocks.com showing tourist attractions and scenes such as rice terraces from Bali in Indonesia, a Thai fisherman throwing his net, an airport in Switzerland, and scenes in the United Arab Emirates. Albay Rep. Joey Salceda was peeved that the video did not even show Mayon Volcano, one of the country’s main attractions. The DOT had to order an investigation and DDB issued an apology, both saying no public funds had been used in this initial video.
Rep. Salceda said the use of stock footage and the exclusion tourist attractions “intrinsic to the Philippine brand” is a symptom of “trabahong tamad.”
It is not only a lazy man’s act, but the DDB’s use of stock footage also made a mockery of the campaign to promote the Philippines as tourists from Europe, China and North America might try to look for the actual and physical places in the video.
As the DOT promised an exhaustive investigation, people are wondering if there is truth to the claim that P50 million was disbursed for the controversial video when it costs only $35 to gain access to the stock footage.
As we don’t believe that public funds were not spent for this campaign, a national tourism promotion campaign should be included in the budget of the DOT and there is nothing wrong with spending money for it. Just enhance the authentic Philippine brand and call for the firing of the “creatives” in the advertising industry and in the DOT, who even smeared the reputation of the country.
While we are on this, may we know the thoughts of the office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (Paul Soriano) on this embarrassing episode about “Love Philippines,” since the press release photos showed him meeting with Secretary Frasco, First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and other officials on this tourism campaign.
