The Pacquaio-Margarito fight is over. The traffic in the roads of Manila are back – after 3 hours of stoppage. After the euphoria of victory, life is back with a vengeance. Traffic, brown out, water outage, dirty streets, uncollected trash, mulcting cops, the inefficient procedures are back. These inconveniences which we consider as “normal” are very often not the norm. Thus while the Aquino feels that travel advisories are unfair, fair or not, the numbers are talking – the output of the Philippines tourism program is a measly number #6 – from 2005 to 2009.
Tourist Attraction: Manila Bay Pollution
With the recent Mendoza hostage-taking plus the string of xenophobic and racist nationalism Filipinos have displayed in the recent Carolla, Hatcher, Chip Tsao capers – it will be interesting to see the numbers for 2010. Nnot to mention Gel Relos’ joke to build Pacquiao statue on the US-Mexico border to keep Mexian illegal immigrants out as if there aren’t also Filipino illegal immigrants aka “TNT – Tago ng Tago / Hiding and Hiding/In Hiding/Hidden”. But I digress.
Increase in Tourist Arrivals to The Philippines Despite Travel Advisories
A recent GMA7 article said that PHL tourist arrivals up despite travel advisories – to quote
Tourist arrivals in the Philippines have increased by 17 percent during the first 10 months of 2010 compared to the same period last year, a welcome development as the country contests the travel advisories issued by six nations on it due to possible terror attacks.
According to figures from the Bureau of Immigration (BI), a total of 2,562,505 foreigners had visited the Philippines as of November 8, 2010, which was relatively higher compared to 2,190,114 who arrived in 2009.
It seems the spate of negative travel advisories issued by six separate governments — Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States — have not put a dent in tourist arrivals, said Immigration Officer-in-Charge Ronaldo Ledesma.
If we are to look at these figures we’d believe that the Philippines is so beautiful that those advisories didn’t make a dent, really?
Let’s look not just at the internal figures but let’s look at how well we fare with our ASEAN counterparts.
ASEAN Tourist Arrivals
Graph 1 – ASEAN Tourist Arrivals By Country, 2005-2009
* Malaysia is the top performer and the increase in tourist arrivals shows a steady trend.
* Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines showed a decrease in 2009.
* Indonesia maintained its momentum, though it had a slight decrease in 2006.
* Consistent trend of Philippines being sixth, from 2005 to 2009.
* Cambodia is showing signs of picking up.
Philippines Share of 2009 Tourist Arrivals
* The Philippines share of all Asean tourist arrivals is 4%. Travel advisories will not make much dent when you are at rock bottom.
* A review of the trend lines in Graph 1 will show that the Philippines share fluctuates within the range of 4%-6% of total ASEAN tourist arrivals from 2005 to present.
The table shows that in 2009, tourist arrivals in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam were higher than the Philippines by 874%, 521%, 358%, 239%, and 139% respectively.
Source of Tourist Arrivals
Intra-ASEAN tourism is on a rise.
The traditional sources of tourism arrivals – USA, Korea, Japan show decreasing numbers.
The EU-25 and the rest of the world are on the upswing.
Data Source: http://www.aseansec.org/5167.htm
Lousy Message or Lousy Product?
Let’s cut to the chase and single out the things that we see when we go sight-seeing. Let’s put ourselves in a tourist’ shoes – and imagine what they will see when they get to the Philippines after seeing the ads and its promises. All the gloss, glam, and hype, only to see the following upon arrival:
Infrastructure
- Rest Areas- no rest areas. rest rooms in most restaurants stink. no public trash bins – those who do provide trash bins have trash bins stolen
- Airports/Terminals/Seaports – they all suck
- Roads/Bridges- they suck
- Electricity – electricity sucks, outages are very frequent.
Peace and Order
We are so used to these incidences that we have taken these situations as “normal”
- Kidnapping/Hostage-taking
- Bombings
- Rallies, strikes
- Mulcting
Landscape/Natural Attractions
- Beaches- behind the facade of crystal blue waters lies a cesspool of poverty – informal settlers/squatters; child beggars; parents prostituting their children
- Rivers – our rivers have become sewage canals for banana plantations, piggeries, plastic bags, human feces.
- Forests – our forests are bare. the little that’s left is under seige from kaingin, real estate development, irresponsible mining practices, kainging, squatting, rezoning.
AP commentor Hyden Toro is more blunt in stating
Beautiful Philippines…Filipinos, beautiful dreamers…unfortunately, the following previous incidents have cast negative outlook of the Philippines:
(1) Jolo Hostage incident; where Red Cross workers were taken Hostages. And were threathened to be beheaded…
(2) Maguindanao Massacre, where Journalists were brutally killed and buried with a BackHoe.
(3) Quirino Grandstand Tragic Hostage Incident – where tourists were killed; President Noynoy Aquino was nowhere to be found. Inexperienced Policemen were used to deal with the tragic hostage situation. The Mayor of Manila and other officials, were feasting from a nearby Chinese Restaurant, while the Hostages were murdered.
(4) Sanitation and pollution problems; with squatter shanties lined up along the Metro Manila riverbanks.
(5) The country is in virtual State of War; with New people’s Army insurgents all over the country; and the Al Queda inspired Muslim rebels in the South.
We have now satellite T.V., where worldwide news events are featured, 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week; from anywhere in the world. People have eyes, and have brains even better than us….especially in developed countries…they are well informed.
It is just useless for the Tourism Department, to put photos of: coconuts, bananas, beeches, etc…These are available in other countries…only pedophiles, who come to have sex with our pre-teen prostitutes are interested to come…Put your house in order, first; clean your house. Then, you can invite people to come visit your house.
Impressions/Questions/Concerns:
Why is the Philippines consistent at number six?
Dick Gordon may have increased Philippine tourism arrivals using internal benchmarks BUT when benchmarked against ASEAN neighbors – the results pale in comparison to Malaysia which had 800% more tourist arrivals than the Philippines in 2009.
What is Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam doing that the Philippines isn’t doing?
Will changing the message from “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” and retaining “Wow Philippines” really make a dent in the Philippines overall share of ASEAN tourist arrivals (4% of ASEAN total tourist arrivals in 2009)?
Given that a large source of tourist arrivals are fluent in English, why are we using a “Filipino word” to reach a market that is too busy to learn new foreign words?
Epilogue
The GMA7 report continues
The country is on track to hit its target of at least three million visitors in 2010, Ledesma added, noting that tourist arrivals have traditionally increased during the last two months of the year, when it is winter in the northern hemisphere and Europeans visit tropical countries for a warmer climate.
Notice the Philippines target – 3 million vistiors in 2010. We sure love to set the bar low. With Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam setting higher goals – the Philippines is contented with 3 million, guaranteed to ensure the Philippines stays at #6 in ASEAN.
So many questions.. that have already been answered – many times over.
Aquino says we can dream once again – 3 million visitors and being #6 in ASEAN isn’t a dream – that’s reality. If Aquino and the Filipinos want to dream, shoot for #1 – but that’s too much to ask from a nation that is renowned for a culture of mediocrity.
About the Author
BongV has written 187 stories on this site.
BongV is a supply chain analyst and designer, IT micro-preneur (for now), advocate of globalization and education, and who volunteers his free time raising funds to support poor schools in the Philippines. He is a formerly Division Chief of the Investment Generation and Projects Development Division of the "Invest in Davao"/Davao Investment Promotion Center in 1994-97.
Question; why were Dick Gordon’s numerous WOW Philippines ads taken down from CNN and BBC years ago? I thought they were good. Not as romantic as Malaysia’s theme song but it portrayed the country’s natural beauty and our people well enough.
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BongV Reply:
November 17th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
if Gordon looked too good, then Arroyo will have a hard time pushing her “anointed”.
same M.O. on Roco and DECS – clip their wings if they become successful.
same M.O. on Robredo and Aquino.
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sky Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 1:25 am
I believe the DOT lacked the budget to advertise. The DOT didn’t get significant increases in budget allocations until well into Ace Durano’s term (2007, I think).
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Nobody truly loves the Philippines. No one truly cares. So if nobody cares, what do you do? What’s left is either to leave or to persevere and suffer in mediocrity and corruption. I myself think there’s no realistic solution. Do you, bongV?
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BongV Reply:
November 17th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Hi Lorenz,
Everyone talks about how they love and care for the Philippines.
Does the talk match the walk?
Our neighbors have found realistic solutions in the strength and resiliency of the formal institutions as a starting point.
For one – the commonality among our neighbors is the liberalization of the market to create synergies with tourism- let FDI come in and interact with LDI. Let both FDI and LDI come to terms of their equity structure based on the market – and not on a constitutional mandate of 60/40.
Take for example the expats in Palawan who have to go into convoluted schemes just so they can invest. Would you agree that they:
1 – their investments create jobs for the people of Palawan
2 – increase trade flows – purchases of construction materials, purchases of food stuff, payments to utilities – all these contribute to the economy.
3 – introduce innovation – new styles, new approaches, new processes
4 – generate revenue for LGUs and the BIR
5 – help increase awareness about the Philippines
And yet, for all these what have we done?
1 – We don’t allow them to own 100% of their equity.
2 – We force them to become citizens so they can own 100% equity
3 – We force them to become corrupt and circumvent the 60/40 law
Removing the 60/40 provision is as real as it gets – just one of the solutions that are screaming to Filipinos in broad daylight.
The Malaysians, Thai, Indonesians, Singaporeans, Vietnamese – listened.
We Pinoys are still lost in Wowowee and Pacquiao euphoria – deaf mute abnoy pactards
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Lorenz Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 7:29 am
I assure you, not a single problem will be bothered to be tackled/fixed seriously. There is no hope for this country at least for a long while.
The oligarchs wouldn’t want foreigners to take a part of their pie. They don’t want to compete with them in the market too because they know their services/products are far inferior. The people continue to be ignorant fools even to the understanding of what a true nationalist/patriot shall be and what truly is a good product/service. That’s because most Filipinos truly are slaves. They easily and blindly believe/follow anything from an incompetent political leader to a brand name (Starbucks anyone?). “A man chooses, a slave obeys” – from Bioshock.
In actuality, there’s no such thing as nationalism/patriotism here in the Philippines. If there’s any hint of it, it is shallow and not genuine. The professionalism/efficiency of the professionals here are laughable at best compared to the Japanese.
The big question is whether the situation will get worse or just remain the same.
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What’s more hurting is that we (should) have a natural advantage as English taught people. But somehow we still fumble it up.
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Jay Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
exactly. I’ve mentioned it to my other friend who also thinks filipino tourism has so much potential. Of course its gets apparent when you get into the fine details of things and the people who don’t want to fix it for the better. Much like the floating rustbucket that pinoy cruise liners like the princess of the stars use, they are settled to painting rust and hiding the fact it is rust.
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Sen. Miriam Santiago already hit back at DOT.
DOT must have a unique “niche” to attract tourists. Saying that “The Philippines has a beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, virgin forest and breath taking mountains” are not enough , because our neighboring countries *ahem*Malaysia*ahem* are claiming that they also have the same “beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters, virgin forest and breath taking mountains”.
Dang, talk about advertising strategies.
Hyden Toro was right, if Philippines want to invest in tourism, fix the house first!
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AlvinEternal Reply:
November 17th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Hindi lang ang Pilipinas may ganyan; even other countries have that.
My advice to DOT: Do some research and fix something.
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Very well written backed by strong analysis and charts…Thanks
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“We cannot just have ‘a beautiful country’ because everyone says that.” – Miriam Santiago… She is definitely right here…
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AlvinEternal Reply:
November 17th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Even other countries said that, even the US.
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What if we sold the Philippines to those looking for some scare time? Hehe. “Philippines. Dare.”
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Maki-Alam Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 4:43 am
Lol, that might just work. “Come if you dare!”
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dumb-oh Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 5:58 am
apply to die? Hehehe.
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Well any answers to what Malaysia, and to some extent Indonesia, is doing right? I see that all SEA countries experienced a slump for the past five years, all except for Malaysia. I could attribute the slump to the financial crisis, but why is Malaysia’s tourism arrival still increasing at a constant rate? It seems they are getting the tourists from ASEAN neighbors and the “rest of the world” (those not from the usual tourist countries?), if we base it on the other graph. It seems they did not focus their tourism marketing from the usual tourist countries, but instead found new ones.
Any thoughts?
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LEGALIZE PROSTITUTION. PROBLEM SOLVED! WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE REALLY GO TO THAILAND IN THE FIRST PLACE EH?
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aboy Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Wow… Erap is that you? Chavit?…
“WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE REALLY GO TO THAILAND IN THE FIRST PLACE EH?”
Wow Juan, pinoy na pinoy… Tanong ko naman, WHY PEOPLE DONT GO TO THE PHILIPPINES IN THE FIRST PLACE, EH?
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THAILAND IS BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE OF ITS AUTHENTIC ASIAN CULTURE. THERE YOU CAN SEE AUTHENTIC BUDDHIST TEMPLES, EAT ASIAN FOOD, AND SWIM IN BEACHES. THERE YOU WILL FIND TRULY CHEAP GOODS. LODGING IS NOT ALSO EXPENSIVE. THOSE THINGS I SAID ABOVE ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE PHILIPPINES. AND THAILAND IS MORE OPEN THAN THE PHILIPPINES. THEY ARE EVEN MORE HOSPITABLE. AND LOOK AT THEIR TRAVEL SLOGANS:
MALAYSIA TRULY ASIA
THAILAND HAPPINESS ON EARTH
UNIQUELY SINGAPORE
KAY GANDA NG PHILIPINAS (AS IF THEY CAN UNגקERSTAND THAT)
SORRY FOR THE CAPS MY HEBREW KEYBOARD WON’T CONVERT TO LATIN AGAIN. WHEN I TYPE IN LOWER CASE, HERE IS WHAT I WILL GET
!פיליפיני
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Thank you for incorporating my blog comments in the article…I appreciate it.
Tourists who come to our country complain about these:
(1) Widespread miseries, and abject poverty.
(2) Endemic environmental degradation, and pollution.
(3) Thieves and pickpockets.
(4) Child prostitution. Parents are their pimps.
(5) Pimps and prostitutes hawking their goods in hotels.
Words-of-Mouth is a better source of advertisement. It is free. It is fast. As long as it comes from reliable sources. Not from the Department of Tourism.
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Lorenz Reply:
November 18th, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Look at the scary situation in Africa (blood diamonds, civil wars, malaria, etc.). It’s far worse than our situation yet many tourists still go there because of nature and animals. There will always be tourists who will come to the PH but that’s mostly because of the beautiful scenery and environment and not because of the people. Who cares if the people are poor. Tourists go to relax or have an adventure and interacting with the people is just a part of it. If you want adventure, you must be prepared at anything.
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Hyden Toro Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
People who go to visit the Safaris in Africa; usually go to: South Africa, Namimbia, Ghana and Tanzaniya. The countries like: Nigeria, Libera, Sierra Leon, etc…;countries with ongoing conflicts. Tourists do not go to these countries. Besides, they have no Safaris…Widelife refuge is very developed in South Africa. A stable and prosperous country. The only African country with an industrial base. Whites called Afrikaneer, lives side by side with black…
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…100 Million pesos and what you get is…
…a slogan foreigners hardly understand…
….a website often mistaken as a porn site if you google it…
….as logo with striking resemblance to Poland and another country…
YEP, THATS TAXPAYERS MONEY WELL SPENT…..
Tara na sa sa pagkabobo…este pagbabago!….
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ulong pare Reply:
November 19th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
@kid d… what do you expect? flips are fakes, nothing is real about these buffoons… from pekeng konstitusyon, pekeng gobyerno, pekeng diplomas, pekeng religion, etchastera, etc… to pekeng heavily accented inles/englitzched…
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… daaaang… whiteys come to flipfland for one reason >>> their penchant for monkeys… just lookit flips married to whiteys, ay sus ginoo… the good thing is that their offsprings look just like me… muy guapo!
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