How the Philippines fails to sell itself abroad

I READ an interesting report this week that said the Philippines was hoping to see a spike in its tourist arrivals after the deadly tsunami killed hundreds of thousands of people in Thailand, Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka on Dec. 26.

I did think that it was rather morbid that one country was hoping to cash in on the calamity of another, but that is normal I guess in terms of human nature.

Anyways, the report went on to mention that tourist arrivals in the Philippines in 2005 were projected to reach 2.66 million, up from 2.23 million last year. The problem here is when you compare these figures with the number of tourists visiting neighboring countries; it puts the Philippines to shame.

Tiny Hong Kong, which isn't even a country, had more than 20 million visitors last year, Thailand had 13 million visitors, and Indonesia had more than five million visitors. Even once-downtrodden Vietnam has overtaken the Philippines, with nearly three million visitors last year!

The vast tourism potential of the Philippines has long been touted by many: From the mountains of Baguio to the beaches of Boracay and the historical sites all over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, the Philippines should have been a huge tourist magnet a long time ago.

So what happened? The answer in short: a lack of infrastructure and no advertising.

In the extremely competitive world of tourism, facilities, attractions and advertising are crucial factors to keep the tourists coming. The problem is that I haven't seen an ad on TV or in print promoting tourism in the Philippines for the past three years.

Sure, there was the cute "WOW Philippines" campaign, but those ads were so short -- 30 seconds on CNN -- that they went by in a flash, only to be obliterated in viewers' minds by far more effective ads by other countries.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's nauseating but effective ad on CNN is stuck in everyone's mind ("Malaysia … truly Asia!"), while Egypt's Red Sea Riviera ads have also become ubiquitous.

The other major factor that keeps tourists away from the Philippines is the sad fact that the country's mangled infrastructure is just too cumbersome for many tourists. When they can be whisked comfortably around Malaysia on beautiful multi-lane highways, why should they bother with horrible one-lane highway from Manila to Baguio that is so badly congested that a journey that should take only a few hours is turned into a seven-hour marathon?

I remember being taken on a bone-jangling trip on an unpaved road from Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island to see some caves. The rode was so bumpy and full of potholes that I couldn't imagine many tourists opting to take the trip. In any other country, the road would have been paved a long time ago in aid of developing tourism, but that didn't seem to be a priority of the Department of Tourism.

I know that the Philippines is struggling financially, but the government should earmark more money for tourism development if it wants the economy to rebound. The problem is that the country is overly dependent on the remittances of overseas Filipino workers. Last year, 10 percent of the GNP was from OFW remittances, while tourism contributed only two percent.

Yes, it's true that Filipinos are friendlier than Malaysians and Singaporeans, but that clearly isn't enough to match the numbers of tourists that those two destinations get. Until the Philippines improves its infrastructure, especially roads and other transportation, has a coherent and comprehensive tourism plan, and a sustained marketing campaign in Europe, the Middle East and the US, then the country will continue to depend on "balikbayan" [visiting foreign-based Filipinos] and a few Asian tourists to fill its tourism coffers.

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A welcome revamp of MTB?

ABS-CBN television has finally decided to bring back Amy Perez and Roderick Paulate to their noontime variety show slot from Jan. 31 in a program called the "Most Requested Show," or MRS.

"Magandang Tanghali Bayan," or MTB, hosted by Ai Ai de las Alas, Arnel Ignacio, Edu Manzano and slew of new starlets, had taken the previously "masa" show with its famous "Pera o Bayong" game segment, and turned it into a youthful and star-studded entertainment package that had virtually killed off audience participation and along with it the dreams of millions of poor Filipinos who used to dream of hitting the jackpot on "Pera o Bayong."

But after a year of the new MTB, viewers were growing weary of Ignacio's nasty jibes at audience members, which just proved that the playful jibing of unsuspecting viewers that worked so well in such standup comedy venues such as The Library in Malate just didn't translate well to live television. That, plus the onscreen romance of Ai-Ai and Edu, with their sickeningly sweet calling of each other "habibi," must have alienated the true target audience of such a type of show: the masses.

Thus, program masters at ABS-CBN have decided to bring back Amy and Roderick, and with them the "Pera o Bayong" segment. Many viewers had been wondering when Amy would be called back to host a show she never should have left. Her enthusiasm, humor, kindness and professionalism make her the perfect host of "MRS." Roderick is also funny and professional, without the dopiness of Arnel that turned off so many viewers. I just hope that many of the younger stars, such as Aaron and many others will be kept on, so that "MRS" doesn't become a "masa" game show extravaganza. A bit of the old "MTB" mixed in with the new format would go a long way in ensuring the success of "MRS."

Comments or questions? E-mail the writer at rasheed@arabnews.com.