By HARVEY KEH
The new tourism campaign slogan of the Department of Tourism, “Its More Fun in the Philippines,” is a catchy, well thought of slogan that certainly reflects the hospitable, warm and welcoming character of the Filipino people.
One insider in the advertising industry whom our DOTofficials consulted prior to the launch said that the slogan came about after several focus group discussions wherein they realized that when people were asked about what they thought of Filipinos, the response was always positive traits while if they were asked about the Philippines, the response was mostly on the negative side. This observation made our DOT officials realize that they should just emphasize the experience tourists will get when they mingle and meet with Filipinos here in the Philippines thus, they decided to highlight the concept of having fun here in our country.
Filipino people is our biggest edge
I agree with DOT in positioning our country as a place where people can enjoy themselves, be happy and have fun since our being very hospitable people is one of our biggest advantages compared to our other Asian neighbors.
Practically all countries in the world have unique tourist attractions like the beaches of Phuket and Bali, the Taj Mahal in India and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Some of these tourist sites may even be better than our own sites but when it comes to welcoming tourists and giving them the total unforgettable experience in our country, Filipinos are certainly at par with the best in the world. Aside from this, we are also a nation of good English speakers compared to our other Asian neighbors thus, tourists don’t find it very hard to go around in our country since they can easily ask for directions or advice from any one of us. The Filipino people is the biggest asset our country has when it comes to attracting tourists to visit the Philippines and this new DOT campaign was able to hit it right by capitalizing on this unique edge that we have against our other Asian neighbors. Congratulations to DOT Sec. Mon Jimenez and his team!
Capitalize on our social media power
Another big advantage that our country should capitalize on is our continued growth and influence when it comes to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. If you notice, the sheer number of Filipinos on Twitter is able to bring about trending topics on the site worldwide. Just a few minutes when our new tourism slogan was launched, the slogan was already one of the top trending topics worldwide. That just goes to show that we are one of the biggest users of Twitter in the whole world. We should be able to use this to our advantage that is why every Filipino should partner with our DOT in highlighting positive things and beautiful places in our country. I am very upset at some Filipinos who even used the new slogan to show negative things about our country in their Facebook page. When will we ever move out of our “Talangka Mentality” where we try to always find fault or find something wrong among each other? This kind of mentality has continued to drag us down to where we are now while a positive and driven attitude has helped our other Asian neighbors such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to surpass us. I hope that we will learn to do away with this mentality and work together with our government leaders to create a culture that builds and highlights the positives in our country.
If the Filipino people is our biggest advantage to attracting tourists here, it is also our people who can help in encouraging more tourists to visit our country through the proper use of social media.
Make or break
Next week, the Senate will formally convene into an impeachment court that will try Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona for the charges that were filed against him by the House of Representatives. This impeachment trial is historic since this is the first time that the SC Chief Justice has been impeached in our country. Aside from this, the result of this impeachment trial can make or break our country given that the present administration led by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has clearly made it known that it wants Corona to be convicted so that he can be replaced with a more fair and impartial Chief Justice that will no longer be beholden to the previous administration. A big problem will arise if Corona is cleared of all the charges and will remain to be the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since this may lead to a more protracted struggle between the Executive and Judicial branch of our government given that the term of Corona will end only on 2017 which will already be a year after the Aquino administration. Right now, it can go either way since we all know for a fact that unlike the House of Representatives that usually follows the dictates of Malacanang, the Senate has always been known to be a more independent institution. Given that the 2013 elections is just a year away, public opinion will play a very important role in influencing the verdict that our senators will give.
Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com
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