PH eyed as Asia’s tourism powerhouse

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, June 27 vowed to transform the country into a "tourism powerhouse" in Asia as the Philippines launched its enhanced tourism campaign, "Love the Philippines."

Marcos led the launch of the new campaign slogan during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Department of Tourism (DoT) at the Manila Hotel. The new campaign succeeded the present slogan, "It's more fun in the Philippines," which was conceptualized during the time of President Benigno Aquino III and was sustained by the Duterte administration.

Marcos affirmed his commitment to advance the country's tourism industry, saying that "this prioritization goes deeper than merely stimulating economic activities and generating job opportunities."

our locators is the cost of power. We are trying to address that by subscribing to the principle of a distributed energy system where we are able to invite investors to actually set up facilities in the economic zones," he said.

"If we have embedded power [in the ecozones], it [will] be able to provide energy for our locator companies," Panga said. There are 20 ecozone projects throughout the country waiting for presidential approval.

He said he met recently with the Antique provincial officials who want to go into ecozones.

"They want to replicate the Bali, Indonesia, type of ecotourism," he said.

An American Taiwanese investor with solar dish technology wants to put up a renewable energy facility in Suyu, Ilocos Sur. Another investor is interested in building a second barge terminal in Tanza, Cavite, to decongest the harbor there, Panga said.

PEZA is an agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry. It is the biggest ecozone authority and one of the top investment promotion agencies in the Philippines. There are 420 ecozones hosting 4,372 locator companies, mostly exportoriented.

The ecozones have generated 1,809,217 direct jobs. The National Economic and Development Authority said for every direct job created in the ecozones, five more jobs are created outside, resulting in 9,046,085 indirect jobs. n

"It springs from the genuine love, me and all of us have for the Filipinos. And what better way to express that love than directly incorporating it into our country's newest tourism campaign slogan, Love the Philippines," Marcos said.

"This is new branding which we unveiled today. It will serve as our guidepost for the Philippine Tourism Industry moving forward," he added.

The president thanked Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco and the DoT for conceptualizing the new slogan, which, he said, is not only promoting the Philippines as a tourist destination but also enhancing the overall experience of every traveler.

"Included in the list of targets are to promote regional products, build more infra for ease of travel, and champion green movements, amongst others," he said.

Marcos said these plans are laid out in detail in the National Tourism Development Plan for 2023-2028, which was approved in May.

"The five-year plan stemmed from this administration's determination to implement programs that will positively transform our country towards being a tourism powerhouse in Asia in the coming years," Marcos said. "Let us therefore strive to translate our golden vision into reality, which also encapsulates this year's milestone theme of Ginto, or Greater Innovations, New Tourism Opportunities."

Citing the latest data on the status of the country's tourism sector, Marcos said the country continues to see improving figures in tourism revenues, employment, international arrivals and domestic trips.

"All of these are encouraging signs that the tourism industry in our country as a whole is headed well towards full recovery. It also conveys a strong message to the world that we are ready and fully equipped to welcome tourists, travelers as well as investors," he said.

The president called Filipinos to be the country's "tourism ambassadors."

"Let us take pride and celebrate the love we have for our country and our people, for it is the same love that gave meaning to the establishment of the DoT and the same love that will propel our tourism industry moving forward into the future," he said.

Earlier, Frasco said the "main change" in the Philippines' marketing strategy will be the shift in focus to "highlight the heart and soul of the Filipino." She said the transformation is evident in the country's culture, festivals, food and products.

"Everything that makes us diverse and unique and a proud Filipino people... gives us pride of place. We are putting forth the best of the best of the Philippines to the world because it cannot be denied that we do give the world our best," Frasco said.

The Philippines ranks sixth on the list of top tourism magnets in Southeast Asia.

The Philippine tourism industry made P1.74 trillion from domestic and foreign tourist receipts and generated 5.2 million jobs for Filipinos in 2022, based on data from the DoT. (Catherine Valente/ ManilaTimes.net)