At the 16th Travel/Tours Expo that opened at the Mall of Asia on Friday, the Tourism Department announced the signing of an agreement with the Philippine Councilors’ League aimed at training local officials on how to market their localities to domestic and foreign tourists. And, in line with this aim, “Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque said the department will bring 100 councilors to each of the country’s 10 biggest tourism destinations like Cebu, Palawan, Bohol and others” (Source: “DOT to launch new tourist come-ons” in Business Mirror, Feb. 8, 2009).
Training local officials on tourism marketing is a good idea but taking a hundred of them on a free trip around the country is an unnecessary expense. No two areas in this country are alike. What works for Bohol or Palawan with their beautiful beaches will not necessarily work for Tanay and Angono. Unless a councilor got elected by circumventing the residency requirement, he is presumed to know his locality like the back of his hand. He is in the best position to know what is attractive about his area, what the weak points are and where improvement is possible. A councilor from the Cordillera does not need to bask in White Beach to know how best to market his area.
The truth is that each local government already possesses an effective tool for marketing its locality. Each has an official Web site, a dot-gov-dot-ph domain, where all interesting information about where to go, what to see, where to stay, where to dine and where to shop can be published. The problem is that the Tourism Department is still laboring over obsolete marketing notions. They still don’t realize what an effective, highly viral and cheap marketing tool the Internet is. You think the WOW Philippines Web site is great? You ought to check the Malaysian Tourism Web site (tourism.gov.my) with its “Real Stories from Real People” section. And the Malaysian Tourism site is published in English and Malaysian, ensuring that both local and foreign tourists will understand the content. And that’s something that the creators of WOW Philippines probably never thought about.
The even bigger problem is that local government officials know even less. Most think that a dot-gov-dot-ph domain is a personal tool for showcasing the mayor and his pet projects. Why, they’re virtually pre-campaign sites for the next election. And most have this crazy notion that only residents visit local government Web sites so they don’t feel any need to make it truly informative. Just look at the Web site of Antipolo—a list of business establishments with no useful information about them, a tourism page where photos don’t load and the Web pages aren’t even cross browser compliant. The target market is very local. Apparently thinking global hasn’t hit them yet.
The truth is, independent local Web publishers are doing a better job of marketing their areas. Compare, for instance, the official Web site of Dumaguete City (dumaguetecity.gov.ph) and the recently launched Go Dumaguete! (godumaguete.com). The front page of Go Dumaguete! contains more useful information and links than half a dozen pages of the official Web site which takes forever to load.
And what did it cost the government to have Go Dumaguete! online? Why, nothing! Not a single centavo. One of the authors is a friend. The idea for Go Dumaguete was born while she was visiting her cousins there a couple of years ago. A box about the authors on the index page says, “Tincho and Lizza live in Dumaguete with their four kids and run a popular restaurant on the Boulevard. Totally friendly and active in socio-civic endeavors, they are your best resource for tourism and business opportunities in the City of Gentle People. They met through Tincho’s cousin, Lisa, who loves combining her passions—travel and Web site creation. She also runs a restaurant in Manila and a bed & breakfast in Baguio City. Together the cousins embark on the Go Dumaguete project to showcase the best of this gentle yet exciting corner of the Philippines.”
As government projects go, the task of developing a local government Web site is probably given to the lowest bidder (hopefully, not to some relative or inaanak of the mayor). The problem is that most entities that bid on Web site development are mere Web designers. They are not writers and they are not photographers. All they want to do is put the site online. They have no talent for developing concepts, information campaigns and marketing strategies. You can see it in most dot-gov-dot-ph Web sites. No imagination at all. The Antipolo Web site has violet, orange and red backgrounds with white text. Obviously, the designers know nothing about maximum readability.
Marketing localities for tourism purposes does not have to be an expensive endeavor for the government. Tap local talents—real talents, not relatives and especially not relatives who are also wannabe politicians. Give them an incentive. Allow them to put unobtrusive ads on the sites so they can earn too but at no cost to the government. I understand that a strategy like that presents no opportunity for government officials to ask for budgets and project allocations. And that makes it unappetizing given the pork barrel culture in government.
There are a hundred strategies for marketing local tourism. Ninety ways won’t work. Of the remaining 10, nine will cost the government unnecessary expense. It’s really a matter of choice, vision and priority. It also requires living with the realities of the 21st century.
“Undersecretary Eduardo Jarque said the department will bring 100 councilors to each of the country’s 10 biggest tourism destinations like Cebu, Palawan, Bohol and others” — this is where our taxes go? crazy…
My sentiments, exactly.
Ms. Connie, everytime a relative from abroad asks for info. on places to see in a local destination, and I scour the Internet for them, all I see in the websites of local governments are photos of the tada!municipal hall or other government buildings. As if people would travel miles and miles and spend a lot to see them. Meanwhile, great photographers and writers/bloggers like you post interesting insights into these places.
Ang tatalino kasi ng government officials eh, hehehe.
hi sassy lawyer!
i totally agree with what you wrote. we are a talented, creative and resourceful people but it seems that those in government don’t have those qualities.
we have a lot more to offer than other countries, what with our 7, 100 plus islands (depends if its high tide or low tide!) and filipinos are friendly, warm and hospitable.
but these things are not reflected with the way official web sites are done.
if i were ace durano and the DOT, i will hold a competition for web designers, writers, photographers to come up with a website that can be the platform for all “official websites” to replicate. they can give it for free to all the LGU’s and the LGU’s can make their own innovations to add a unique twist to their individual websites.
that way there’s a uniformity with the way the content is presented covering all the salient points that should be included in the site.
then link all sites so that the tourist can look at bohol or cebu and segue to the other neighboring islands.
i don’t know if my suggestion has merit but if we just think out of the box, we can have a tourism program that can be out of this world! hahaha!!!
I think that’s a good idea, Michelle. Problem with government is that projects are often awarded to those who are malakas.
This is incredulous!!! Wake up politicos the Internet is the best marketing tool there is.Delegate this job to imaginative people.
Market your own place for others to see.No need to
send councilors for vacation.
There are still some of us who enjoy simple
pleasures like watching sunset,trip to your local
wet market(not kidding) farm or garden.Observing
people making local handicrafts and guiding us to your old churches or homes are other activities
that can attract other tourists.Post your festivals.
Be innovative so as to attract people of all ages.
How about food..it is a big draw.Even the “dirty ice cream” and the lowly fishball cart and other
street foods can entice adventurers.Show us the
picture of your river,creeks,mountains.
Believe me there is a gem in your “backyard”
waiting for others to be discovered and explored.
Let the NET begin!!!!
I’ve long said very few countries possess the natural beauty of the Philippines. Moreover Manila has a lot to offer. The only complaint I have with Manila is the amount of people and traffic on any given day. I can recall taking more than an hour and a half to get from the airport to the toll booth leaving Manila leading to the expressway. I come from the east coast city of Philadelphia and I can get to practically anywhere in 15 minutes to a half hour, and that’s with traffic.
Philadelphia’s a very big city for those not familiar with it (fifth largest in the states).
Be that as it may, I still love the Philippines and its people.
I’ve been moaning about this to my husband for as long as I can remember. Every time I see a cab here splashed with thai or some other SEA destination I groan. Why can’t we do that?
One time I saw a WOW Philippines advert on the tube! I logged on to the site and I was so disappointed. Since uuwi kami this Easter, I was hoping to find information on locations other than Cebu and Boracay. I wanted info on where I can stay in Metro Manila say apartel.
Di na nga impressive ang layout and content, kulang-kulang pa.
They should not only target foreigners but cater for balikbayans and even local tourists. Para one-stop-shop na lang.
This requires research and a designated PR/marketing organisation I think are the people the Govt should allow to bid.
pahabol pala…
What a brilliant idea to take those councillors around Pinas.
A bunch of freeloaders! Irita ha.
100 councilors? Huh? Why not spend the money on TV ads on CNN? That will bring 100x more tourists than giving those politicians an undeserved vacation.
Councilors?! They could have just paid to take a travel blogger around the Philippines’ key destinations and gotten more mileage out of their money! COUGH COUGH NUDGE NUDGE
I remember WOW Philippines “Biyahe Tayo” ad — more air time was given to the Filipino singers than the tourist spots.
The Philippines: like Indonesia, but Catholic.
I promised myself to trawl your old posts Ms Connie and not comment . sadly having read this one I can’t help myself . First of all , I fell in love with The Philippines in the early 80′s and I’m still deeply in love . I’ve travelled extensively throughout Asia and here in Australia and I know you have amazing “product ” to sell on the tourism market . Yes it is a marketplace . Next , I work in the hospitality industry here in Australia in a town that’s very reliant upon inter state and international tourists . You may have heard of one of our products , The Great Barrier Reef . Our town is the gateway to The GBR . That’s one way we market ourselves . Let me tell you its hard work , and you are competing with other amazing destinations and the tourist dollar / yen/pound/ euro ( insert required currency ), is finite . We cant rely on government to market us . Each destination is unique…after all that’s one reason you want people to visit you .In my search for tourist information on The Philippines I have found blogs , such as Carlos Celdrans and many others , to be far more informative than any of The Philippines government sponsored sites .
You mention the Malaysian website , which is also backed up by a great advertising campaign on television . That’s a great example of effective marketing . Your friends in Dumaguete are on the right track and should be commended , that’s the road to go for any destination within The Philippines for all the reasons you mention . The government is ineffectual , if it can’t govern , how can it market the country ? So go for it please and let others discover your wonderful country .
If it weren’t so darn expensive to just travel around, shoot photos and write, I’d love to take on the job. But travel costs. Worse — local travel is MORE expensive than Southeast Asian travel.