asian tourists as target

“For the first four months of 2005, arrivals from China increased by 105 percent compared to the same period last year. This is one market that we can continually leapfrog from. It has an outbound market of 30 million and the projection for 2010 is 50 million and 100 million by 2020. Even only 10 percent of the projection for 2010 is five million, one percent is 500,000. We have traction in this market now.”
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At the moment, the Philippines has only 0.2 percent of the market, posting arrivals of 9,272 as of April this year. If you think about Thailand’s 750,000 Chinese tourists, you’ll either want to weep for your country or start promoting it on your own.
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Esguerra, who opened the Beijing office last year under then Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, says that for the first time, a tourism secretary is actually putting his money where his mouth is. Past efforts in China consisted of no more than sales missions. “We didn’t have an office here, which made it hard to do business. There were no materials, no support, no advertising. It was handled from our Hong Kong office, which is a very different market…”

The Philippine participation in the Beijing Tourism Expo was crucial, to say the least. The expo featured 20 country pavilions and over a hundred local travel agencies and related industries spread over 15,000 square meters of exhibition space.

“Tourism is always perceived as a social function,” says Esguerra. “It’s not. It’s a business. Some ambassadors think we should put the money in parades and golf tournaments – that’s not going to work. You put the money into something like this – a travel expo, advertising, promotion – and you get groups from that. If you put it in a parade, is anybody going to the country because they saw your parade?“

With the Philippines being the featured country at the expo, its booth at the exhibition attracted more than just a passing glance, thanks in large part to its design and location, which was along the main corridor and just a few meters from the entrance.

Jarque laughs when asked how they got such premium space. “Before, we were always near a bathroom or some awful location because the money for the participation would come at the last minute. This time, we reserved and paid six months in advance.“

Which was just as well, since even rich destinations like Hong Kong were relegated to the next hall, almost hidden from sight.

Jarque continues, “There’s a lot of cooperation here. Philippine Airlines gave a lot of concessions, the Bayanihan (who performed at the fair, the presentation and the Philippine food festival at the Hilton) we got for a song and they also helped us out in the booth…”

The design of the Philippine booth stood out from the rest because it used a light box along its width, making the photo of a very idyllic beach jump out. With the Bayanihan dancers dressed in their finest Philippine costumes and dancing the tinikling and involving spectators, the booth was a natural attraction. They were probably one of the most photographed people in the entire fair.

Durano says, “When I go around the world, one thing I realize is that the Philippines as a product itself has never been a hard sell. It’s easy to sell it, it’s just a matter of promoting it, of providing the information in the markets, finding the right balance of products and the right outlets for your promotion.”

He’s confident that the Philippines can compete with countries that have had far better success in tourism. “We have three natural advantages. One, we are the closest tropical destination from this market. With the busy lives of people these days, travel time is such a big factor. For them to go to other destinations, they have to travel two or there hours more — hours they can already spend on our beaches. Two, the Philippines is not a mono destination; from Manila to Boracay to Palawan to Cebu to Bohol and Davao. The diversity of the country as a destination is an advantage. Three, which comes out in our exit surveys, is the warmth of the Filipinos. We are just a happy, friendly people. It’s a big deal when we serve and accommodate visitors.”

excerpts taken from DOT Secretary Joseph Ace Durano: “I’m a glorified salesman”