Philippines, The Secret Destination

I just had to post this whilst it's hot off the press--my personal email exchange with the head of tourism in the Philippines. Not part of my travelogue, but something I felt  compelled to do. The trigger was the recent hostage-taking debacle in Manila and tourism's response to it. I didn't critique his public response which I thought was weak and short-sighted but rather naively offered a brilliantly creative solution (or so I thought) to the bigger problem of the Philippines' underperformance in attracting foreign tourists in general. I was very gratified to receive a reply, and that promptly too. Good sign I thought. But it stopped there. My feelings of hope were quickly dashed with his tangential reply. Full of excuses, I was dismayed. I am sharing here my communiqué with the head honcho of Philippine tourism Mr. Alberto Lim. He is responsible for the department which in my mind is the hotbed of possibilities, where creative Pinoy minds run amok. Not. What was I thinking? Perhaps I was hoping that with Noynoy as President he'd have better staff. Doh!

at low tide 

If after reading this my Pinoy readers feel the same as I ---that we ain't got a hope in competing with our Asian neighbours so long as people like this man is leading the charge----please I would like to hear from you. Even more if you feel otherwise.

to: aalim@tourism.gov.ph date: Mon, Sep 6, 2010, 9:58 PM subject: idea from pinoy down under

how close is Au to RP?

Hi Mr. Lim,
I am a recent resident of Australia but very much proudly Pinoy. Like everyone else I watched with horror the tragic hostage-taking event of last week and despaired once again if the Philippines will ever hit its stride in attracting foreign tourists to our beautiful shores. Even without this unfortunate incident majority of Australians do not think of the Philippines as a holiday destination. The few that have travelled to our land do have happy memories and wonder why we are not as well known as our more aggressive Asian neighbours, notably Thailand and Indonesia. We have the advantage of distance and language, it's puzzling why we don't do as well as them. If limited marketing budget is your constraint may I suggest using word-of-mouth.  Tap into the lucrative Aussie market via the Pinoys living here. Australians love to travel and have high disposable income. They just need to be told about this secret destination that is the Philippines. Perhaps give the referring Pinoys incentives such as free passport renewal, exemption from departure tax/airport tax, discounts on flights, free weekend accommodation in Boracay, etc. anything to get them travelling too!! Every Pinoy loves a bargain and a freebie.I'm sure you have a lot of creative minds working for you to come up with exciting stuff.  It won't cost you much but you have much to gain. Just a suggestion. What do you think?

Hey I do my bit, I brought all these high-spending Aussies over for my wedding!

Would be great to hear back from you. Even if it's a "no". Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Marita

The UpsideDownUnder Pinay

date: Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 4:01 PM

subject: re: idea from pinoy down under

Hi Marita

You would do well to look into the many offers from the resorts in Boracay and other affected destinations as well as from airlines offering great bargains.  It is in their best interest to offer discounts now that the occupancy rates are low and load factors are dropping.  The DOT does not have to tell the private sector what to do. They resolutely follow the Law of Supply and Demand.

With regard to the suggestions of free passport renewal and exemption from taxes, these are not sufficient incentives and are not realistic since legislation may be required. Even if they were to incentivize travel, the "crisis" will be over much sooner than we can put the government machinery into gear.  

I also believe the tourism crisis is overblown. From the recent arrival data, the cancellations have not really spread to other markets. Only China/HK which is 9% of our arrivals is seriously affected. With 2/3 of the year gone, only the remaining 3% China/HK arrivals for the balance of the year would be affected and maybe not even all of 3%.  Before the Luneta incident, we were already ahead by 11% over all markets!  It is our national pride that has been hurt much more than tourism.

Let me assure you the DOT is working overtime to create a new brand image that will attract the tourists and upgrade our products to help us achieve the ambitious targets we have set for ourselves.

Thanks for your suggestions anyway.

I interrupted his gaming perhaps?

Alberto A. Lim

Secretary

Department of Tourism
Sent from my iPad

to: Alberto Lim <aalim@tourism.gov.ph>

date Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 5:33 PM

subject: Re: idea from pinoy down under

Hello again Alberto,
Thank you for responding. If I may be candid sir, you completely miss my point. The hostage incident was just the short-term trigger to my message. I agree it was an overblown debacle and have read your press release. The bigger issue that I was directing your attention to is the lack of awareness in Australia of the Philippines as a holiday destination. I am not a tourism expert like you and I obviously was not thinking of the how-it-couldn't-be-dones. I was more focused on the how-it-coulds.  You will agree with me that Australia is a lucrative untapped market for Philippine tourism. Its outbound travel rose 8.2% despite the GFC to 6.3 million trips in 2009. Its forecast growth for 2010 is 13.4% and a ten-year average annual growth forecast of 4% to reach a staggering 9.3 million by 2019 (ref: Tourism Research Australia). Of the top ten preferred destinations, five of them are in SEAsia. Imagine if the Philippines can get even just a small slice of that pie......But I am not the expert. 

All that to say, Australia is a low-hanging fruit waiting to be harvested. 

so secret

Maraming salamat po.

Sincerely,

Marita

The UpsideDownUnder Pinay Note: Check out this blog by a friend of mine Michael Sellers. He expresses basically the same sentiments.