More Fun in the Philippines

I have asked my students in Marketing to give their views on the recently launched Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) campaign featuring images of various activities along with the tagline “It’s more fun the Philippines” and here are their views.

The campaign has given salience to the country and has provided more awareness of the many possibilities in the country more than any other campaign done in the past. The success of the campaign could be attributed to the ease with which anyone with an idea could create his own interpretation of what is fun or what is funny in the country and post it in the Internet. And that is also the reason why some people believe that the posting could result into a positive or negative perception of the Philippines. The posting of some cultural activities like the local town fiestas and the beautiful beach or mountain resorts are intriguing and exciting but some spoofs about drinking or commuting in the Philippines could be seen as something less than positive. Some of the postings may be a way by which we make fun of ourselves but some students think it could backfire because it may look strange or perplexing to foreigners. These are posting like “holdafun, kidnafun, and carnafun” which refers to holdups, kidnaps, and car naps that is reported daily in local newspapers.

Some of the students mentioned that the tagline was a copy of the Switzerland campaign but also said that no other tagline really captures the country spirit that they said may be due to our sunny days and the sunny disposition of our people. The campaign resonated with many people and the proof of it was the enthusiasm and energy released by the campaign.

However, the students felt that for the campaign to be sustainable, the country should not only have beautiful stretches of beaches, festivals, and an English speaking population but also provide the basic functions that would provide satisfaction to the tourists like first class airports, good roads, signage, first class hotels, and good transportation. They also mentioned that peace and order, clean environment, improved services and streets free of beggars could provide a more meaningful experience to tourists.

Many of them agrees that those who are able to go to places like Amanpulo or El Nido would have exciting and enjoyable experience that they can share with their friends back home.

Compared to other countries, the Philippines does not have many man-made structures like in Europe that could be the focus of visitors in the country but we have many natural wonders that we could be proud of and one of them is the underground river in Palawan.

Another element that the students think could add to the credibility of the campaign is the natural warmth and hospitality of the Pilipino. They agree that the Pilipino is easy to get along with and is fun to be with because he loves to have a good time.

And if I may, I would add that the values of “pakikisama” (good relationship), “utang na loob” (gratitude), and “hiya” (shame) that most Pilipinos grew up with may have contributed to the way they treat each other and their guests. A Pilipino seeks personal relationship and gets involved in the activities of others. A Pilipino intuitively feels for another and believes in the unity of human beings and as a result thinks that all of us owe the other equal respect and love. A Pilipino tries harder so he will not fall short of expectations of others.

Would a visitor in the Philippines then recommend the Philippines to others? We definitely hope so. Only time can tell. The campaign is at an early stage and we hope that some of the barriers to its success could be eliminated.

The advantages of coming to the Philippines would be in the quality that tourists would get for the price that they pay. The quality is in the uniqueness of the Pilipino, his friendliness, helpfulness, and his hospitality.

My students and I expect the campaign to elicit the feeling of amusement, excitement, playfulness, and enjoyableness from visitors. We hope that the experience would give them a feeling of attachment to the people that they meet or to the people they travel with and a feeling of deep connections with each other.

Could the campaign be better? Of course it could be better because the country could offer so much variety that each place could have its own campaign. But for the meantime a generic campaign for the Philippines would do it a lot of good. So let the fun continue in the Philippines.