With the back to back record highs of the Philippine Stock Market, the great economic growth evidenced by good rise in the country’s GDP, the upgrades on credit ratings by several credit rating agencies and increase in tourist arrivals, these are just some facts pointing towards Philippines’ vibrant economy in this coming years. There is no doubt that the Philippines is in the positive zone of growth for this year 2013 and beyond. The “Sick man of Asia” is now cured and is ready to conquer again the Asian or even the World economy as it is then.
Who would not want to travel the world and see the beautiful spots each country has to offer? I know everyone of us wants to go places and experience the beauty and wonders of other countries. But what if you can find it in one place or one country?
I was happy to find this pictures in Facebook showing different tourism sites in the world which are akin to what we have here in the Philippines.
Not only are the great places compared to the rest of the world but also Catholic Churches. Churches that boasts great architectural works of art and are considered heritage sites.
Because of the sudden popularity of this campaigns which was also imitated by other Asian Countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, I took time to make my own version. And this is my contribution to our campaign #ItsMoreFunInThePhilippines.
Philippines is really rich in wonders and beautiful tourist spots that are just there to be discovered. So if you want to travel the world consider visiting the Philippines and experience what fun really means. People, places, foods and many others, Its More Fun In the Philippines.
It was a sunny Saturday morning, I woke up beside my still asleep girlfriend in a nice cottage. I kissed her on the forehead to wake her up for us to take our breakfast. She opened her eyes, smiled and said “Love You Habibi, kain na tayo?” We left the bed and went to the dinning area. After we had our breakfast we take a walk on the beautiful white beach and we were mesmerized and amazed at the beautiful bluish water of EL Nido Apulit Island. Can’t help but tell to myself “You made the right choice to make your wedding proposal here”. Yes it was last night that my girlfriend became my fiancee, and El Nido Apulit Island resort is our witness.
As we are strolling the island and enjoying the wondrous scenery, we suddenly heard a loud noise. It seemed like a big siren moving towards our location. It became louder and louder so we ran to our cottage. Before we got inside I slipped and fall on the ground and when I’m about stand up, I heard a voice saying “Uy gising na, male-late ka na. Ang lakas lakas na ng alarm clock mo di ka pa magising”. And I suddenly woke up and realized that all was just a dream. What a nice dream that put an un-erasable smile on my face.
It is really my dream to go to Palawan especially El Nido, but budget wont allow me yet to have it achieve. From the many articles, pictures and also testimonies from friends who have gone there, I really made it a point to add it to the list of the must go places as it is really a romantic place to go to. Pristine water, nice white beaches and green environment, everyone will really enjoy staying in that paradise island. And with the help of this contest from El Nido Resorts, I’m hoping that my El Nido dream will be realized because I believe that in El Nido dreams will come through.
Based on the show’s fan sites, Survivor US with its host Jeff Probst will shoot 2 season in the Philippines, both Seasons 25 and 26 back to back.
CamSur Governor L-Ray Villafuerte did confirmed that a big production is now being filmed in the islands but he chose not to give specific details about it, saying they are under confidentiality agreement. The governor also said the shooting will help boost the province’s tourism industry and will help create jobs for their people.
And he also added that aside from Survivor, a Hollywood film is also slated to be shot in Camarines Sur this year.
“Magkakaroon ng Hollywood film sa amin this year, I can not say again (what it is),” he said.
After the botched Pilipinas Kay Ganda tourism campign which led to the resignation of Usec. Enteng Romano and eventually the exit of Sec. Alberto Lim, now comes the most awaited and most anticipated tourism campaign. Under the helm of the current Tourism Sec. Mon Jimenez and created by award winning ad agency BBDO Guerrero, DOT launched last week the new campaign “Its More Fun In The Philippines”.
After knowing it, my first reaction was, is it the one we’ve waited for quite sometime? I’ll admit the new brand didn’t appeal to me that much, comparing to the very catchy and easy to promote WOW Philippines. Added to the non-excitement was the surfacing of a 61 years old It’s More Fun in Switzerland campaign which caused other people to put holes on the new branding for its originality.
But after reading/knowing the reason behind the new brand from Sec. Mon Jimenez himself, I realized why not give it a try and it suddenly sink-in to me that hey our country and our people is really fantastic, thus making it really more fun in here.
The new branding may be a little more different with the common one-word adjectives like Amazing Thailand, Incredible India and others, but as what Steve Jobs said we must “Think Differently”. I think the DOT intentionally thought of shying away from the usual campaigns of other Asian countries to promote that we are more than the usual tourist destination in Asia. And I will give credit to that because one way of promoting something is to offer new things because people often caters more to the new and the unusual as it draws curiosity and rave.
But in every changes there will always be nay sayers. After the launch of the new tourism brand several people shared their disappointments and even bashed the slogan relating it to some of the unfortunate events happening in our country. Slogans like “Kidnapping is more fun in the Philippines”, “Snatchers and Pick Pockets are more fun in the Philippines” among others. They even said it’s a waste of money for tourism campaign just like that. Yes criticisms are ok as long as its intention is to uplift something. But to criticize just for the sake of downplaying it and creating negativity is unacceptable. We are not a perfect country, we have our flaws and problems but bashing our own just to prove you’re more intelligent or more brilliant than others is in-appropriate.
Good thing there are more people who appreciates the new campaign and are now helping the DOT to move forward. Social media supporters of the campaign are outnumbering and dissolving those who do not. And this is what DOT aimed for, collective efforts of people to promote our country because it is us Filipinos who are our nation’s brand. We have a lot of tourist spots to boast for, but our edge really is our warmth and unique Pinoy nature towards visitors. And that’s what makes us more FUN-TASTIC so we can really say to the world, come visit us because It’s More Fun In The Philippines.
“If there is tourism, there is a job for every Filipino” – Sec. Mon Jimenez (Dept of Tourism)
- It’s more fun in the Philippines Gallery (foobarph.wordpress.com)
- Its more fun in the Philippines (castaneezy.wordpress.com)
- It’s DEFINITELY More Fun In The Philippines! (rodjtulang.wordpress.com)
- It’s More Fun in the Philippines! (normannorman.com)
- It’s not fun in Switzerland (abs-cbnnews.com)
- Some Think #It’sMoreFuntoBash. I DISAGREE (abs-cbnnews.com)