By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is still keeping the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” brand slogan, but admits recent events have prompted it to refocus its current ad campaign to assuage travel-security concerns of foreign tourists.
In a news conference on Wednesday, the agency showed its new TV commercial (TVC), featuring a Japanese tourist in a hat and dark sunglasses, enjoying different destinations in the Philippines. At the end of the TVC, the words ‘Experience the Philippines’ fade into the screen.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Tourism Undersecretary Katherine de Castro said the tagline Experience the Philippines is “a call to action for foreigners to come and see for themselves how the Philippines is doing right now”.
She said, “Admittedly, recent events have become a cause for concern for foreigners. So McCann Worldwide Group thought it may not be the right time to push the ‘fun Philippines’ angle.”
McCann handles the ad collaterals of the DOT, which has a P650-million budget for its ad campaign this year.
When Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) struck Central Visayas in 2013, resulting in the loss of lives and property, the DOT suspended the showing of its “It’s More Fun…” ads worldwide for about three months.
As this developed, Bloomberry Resorts Corp. Chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr. disclosed in his report to stockholders on Thursday that the company-owned Solaire Resort and Casino recorded 40 canceled bookings in the aftermath of the Resorts World incident. Proven to be a lone gunman shooting, and not a terrorist attack by extremist elements, the situation is expected to return to normal, said Razon, as he emphasized the foot traffic at Solaire was not affected.
Prior to the Resorts World incident, a number of foreign tourists and travel agencies had already canceled their bookings in Bohol, Cebu and Davao due to the clashes between government troops and Islamist rebel forces in Inabanga, Bohol, and Marawi City. The clashes in Marawi prompted President Duterte to declare martial law in the whole island-region of Mindanao.
De Castro said ‘Experience the Philippines’ is only being used for that particular TVC, which will be launched on Independence Day, “and will not replace the country brand slogan ‘It’s More Fun in the Philippines.’ In the final edition of the ad, ‘It’s More Fun’… will still be used [and flashed at the end of the video]. In fact, we still use that [More Fun] slogan in all our collaterals.”
She said the TVC is “still undergoing final editing. What we showed [on Wednesday] was merely a work in progress. The final output will be uploaded in our social-media platforms after its launch on major networks.”
A rough edit of the TVC showed the Japanese tourist named “Mr. Uchimura” going to the Hundred Islands, the Banaue Rice Terraces, the Paoay Sand Dunes and Calle Crisologo in Vigan. In each destination, he “experiences” what the locals are doing, seeing and eating, including dancing at the rice terraces.
While each destination is shown onscreen, Uchimura says in a voice over: “Here, you don’t have to see the sun to discover radiance; you don’t have to see colors to experience vibrance; you don’t have to see smiles to know you are safe; you don’t have to see to feel you are home.”
Toward the end of the ad, Uchimura tries to pay for his snacks, which he enjoyed with some locals, but one of them stops him and says, “Next time.” Uchimura replies with an Arigato (Thank you), and as he stands, he takes out his foldable walking stick, revealing that he is blind. He then leaves the eatery, shown to be located on the cobblestoned Calle Crisologo.
The words “Life feels better when with Filipinos” then appears on the screen, and fades to “Experience the Philippines”. De Castro pointed out, “If you noticed, ‘Experience the Philippines’ also used the same color style of ‘It’s More Fun…’,” underscoring that the DOT was still sticking to the country’s brand slogan.
This particular TVC, she said, primarily targets senior citizens and retirees, as well as those who are differently abled. It will be shown in Japan, Russia, Indonesia, the UK, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and China, to name a few.
Like the “Anak” TVC, the ‘Experience the Philippines’ ad is also based on a true story, this time of a Japanese retiree in the Philippines, and still carries the theme, “When With Filipinos”.
The Anak TVC will run until August, the DOT official said, and will then be replaced with new ads “in the ‘ber months”, or when winter starts creeping in the Western and Northern Hemispheres.
The Experience the Philippines campaign will run simultaneously with the current ad,
she added.
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