Be Nice☻ Newsletter (June to August 2017 Issue)

NATIONAL ISSUES
Nancy to DOT:
The Department of Tourism (DOT) could still reverse
the foreign visitor downtrend if it would only start reassessing
its strategies of promoting the country as a
tourist destination abroad, and focusing also on the
domestic market.
Senator Nancy Binay today said it would be best to redirect
marketing on the local market instead of spending
taxpayers' money on advertisements that are counterproductive.
“Baka pwede munang i-reassess ang strategy na
instead na foreign market ang focus natin, baka
pwedeng mag-concentrate din tayo sa domestic market.
It’s also another growth area in terms of tourism.
Sayang lang ang mga ads na pinapalabas natin kung
mahihirapan lang naman tayong ibenta ang Pilipinas
abroad,” Binay, the Senate Committee on Tourism
chairperson, said.
The lady senator said that focusing on the domestic
tourism could stem the shortfall that the country may
experience due to the negative perception of the
Philippines abroad.
“Di nga ba sinasabi nating huwag tayong maging
banyaga sa sarili nating bansa. Maganda rin ang
elemento ng 'experience' sa marketing campaign ng
DOT pero i-address muna natin ang 'disconnect' sa
messaging,” she added.
She added that the DOT may have a hard time promoting
the country abroad due to what is happening in the country
today.
“It is our country which suffers from the negative image
projected abroad. Marami na ang nag-cancel ng bookings at
kaliwa't kanan ang travel advisories dahil sa kaguluhan sa
Mindanao at impression ng martial law,” she said.
“Baka mas lalo lang tayo mahihirapang i-promote ang
Pilipinas dahil mas matagal ang airtime at newscast tungkol
sa mga nangyayari sa Pilipinas kaysa sa 30-seconder na TV
commercials. Di pa kasama dyan ang mga lumalabas sa social
media,” Binay said.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA),
domestic tourism expenditure grew by 19% from PhP 1.7
trillion in 2015 to PhP 2.1 trillion in 2016.
Domestic tourism expenditure includes expenditures of
resident visitors within the country either as a domestic trip
or part of an international trip, the PSA said.
In 2012, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that four
out of 10 Filipinos aged 15 years old and above travelled
within the country.
An estimated 25.7 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and
above had travelled within the country, the 2012 Household
Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) said.
According to the same survey, more than half or 53.7% of
the domestic tourists were aged 15 to 34 years old.