Signos

Old folks used to describe unfortunate happenings as “signos,” literally, “signs.”

“Masamang pangitain”, my lola from Malolos used to say in Tagalog.

“Omen,” the Senate tourism committee chair, Sen. Nancy Binay, pronounced after the fiasco that accompanied the launch of LOVE the Philippines by our tourism department on its 50th anniversary celebration.

And that is how I would view the campaign that started on the wrong foot.

I had high hopes for Secretary Christine Frasco when she was announced to be PFRM Jr.’s secretary for an agency I was part of at the turn of the century, having been appointed to head the Philippine Tourism Authority (now TIEZA) on June 30, 1998 till November 3, 2000, concurrent with being the Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs by then President Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

High hopes not because she is the daughter of an esteemed and highly accomplished provincial governor, my good friend Gwen Garcia of Cebu, but because tourism success is best achieved by LGUs working hand-in-hand with initiatives of the national government.

In short, the DOT sets the tone in terms of brand marketing and product planning, but the LGUs must follow through with proper implementation. That has been the recurring theme of all my articles on tourism in this space.

Secretary Frasco, having been a mayor of Liloan in Cebu, having been sired in the atmosphere of a political family which has done wonders for the province, was equipped with both experience and gravitas to get LGU officials not to “toe the line,” but in a positive note, to cooperate and be meaningful partners in promoting tourism in the country.

Ours is a country replete with examples of how bad local governance harms tourism, and I need not cite examples here.

But Cebu is one example of how good local governance, sometimes regardless of the national government, can accomplish so much for tourism.

How it blends natural beauty with culture and heritage, and how it gets all stakeholders up to the lowest level of society to enhance tourism for Cebu is more a tribute to local government than it is to efforts coming from the national.

Pride of place is what made Cebu, an “island in the Pacific” the most successful travel destination in the country for both domestic and international travelers alike, Boracay notwithstanding.

Credit that to the late Gov. Lito Osmena, followed by the late Gov. Pabling Garcia, and now the indefatigable lioness of LGUs, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

Most of all, to the people of Cebu.

But then again, for the DoT under Frasco, it is never too late to change tack when “signos” appear.

Sec. Frasco must simply move on and move forward, in search of another promotional slogan, and junk the LOVE misfortune.

I know … I know and have observed through so many years, how every new tourism secretary has wanted to put their personal mark on marketing slogans, some with success in terms of public acceptance, some with mediocre results, some flatly rejected.

But remember—Thailand and Malaysia are not successful tourism destinations in our region because of “amazing” or “truly Asia,” but because the whole package they offered became a pleasant travel experience, whether because of natural beauty enhanced, culture and traditions preserved, affordability of food and accommodations, tourist-friendly people, accessibility, and other things rolled neatly into one travel attraction.

“Amazing” became true, and “truly” Asian merely captured the essence of these destinations.

Let us not get fixated on the slogan.

Indonesia knew that Bali was their paradise, and only recently have they started promoting Borobudur and other destinations. From the 60s up to the present, Indonesia is Bali as far as the foreign traveler is concerned.

Which partly explains why an “island in the Pacific,” with no mention of the Philippines enticed many, the rest of Filipinos included.

From the perspective of planning, DoT should not be all things to all of the Philippines.

From the perspective of targeting, DoT should focus on the low-hanging fruits, nearby countries where accessibility is easier, and then differentiate the product/s amid the fierce regional competition.

There is no need to rush.

Rush is perhaps the best example of how things went awry.

What DDB intended to be a “mood” video, not a finished product, and they justified as reason for using foreign stock footage, was rushed to be able to present something to the tourism publics one year after the new PFRM Jr. administration came into being.

Premature exposure and hasty uploading led to the fiasco.

Question: did the client (DoT) not have representatives on each stage of the product development?

If they did not, that should explain DDB’s use of foreign footages, because actual shoot and production was yet to start.

If they did, then whoever was their client representative was equally at fault as DDB’s assigned brand manager.

And so when foreign stock footages were identified by eagle-eyed social media observers and bloggers, the message of LOVE was drowned, and like the Titan submersible curious about the Titanic, it cannot float again.

So, back to the drawing board, folks.

Improve the product first, and focus on the immediate doables.

Study the nearby markets; enhance what they want; and present attractions that truly attract these particular country targets.

Stop dreaming that Caucasian travelers will flock to us soon.

Stop launching promos in London or Paris or even New York.

Those are not low-hanging fruits, and balikbayans will always come back because they still LOVE their origins and their families back home.

Sun and sand may attract cold-weary Koreans and other northern Asian people, great.

But other climes may want something different. Do your research, and plan accordingly.

Remember, it’s not the slogan.

And trite though it sounds, a good “product” is its own best advertisement.

***

Speaking now about the first year of the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. with an overwhelming vote of electoral confidence never before seen since the fall of the father before him, my personal assessment: it underwhelms.

From much too early fiascoes in Malacanang itself, to the inability to fully organize government administration one year after its being, to untamed food inflation that cannot be solved with resurrected ideas like Kadiwa, to an experimental and thus unexplained Maharlika, to placing the country in potential harm’s way due to EDCA-US expansion, and as if to punctuate everything one year after, the appointment of a Larry Gadon to become the “Komite de Paki-alam” for the country’s most intractable problem of mass poverty, the verdict is suspended, until plans are better tuned and program implementation improved.

The best indictment of the underwhelming first year experience can be gleaned from the stock market, which, for a year now, has been moving sideways.

No real highs. No real lows. Pure profit taking on incremental gains, and foreign money moving out slowly.

But don’t blame Marcos Junior for it.

He came to the picture when the whole world is drowning in its own miserable problems, and he is no superman despite his overwhelming electoral mandate.

Being patient and lowering one’s expectations is perhaps the best attitude to have.

The Filipino people have muddled through, “bahala na si Batman” through all these years and despite several administrations.

As I keep quoting, “plus ca change, plus ca reste la meme chose”.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.