Roots
Ready for the tourists?
By Marifi Jara
QUELIMANE, Mozambique–Without meaning to be insensitive to the collective disgust and anger that Filipinos felt over the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” pitch (I did feel cross too), I must say I had many good laughs following the whole brouhaha.
First it was over the issue of the campaign’s website which had just one letter different from an internet address (a URL) that was redirecting to a porn site –beautifulpilipinas.com vs. beautifulfilipas.com. If the campaign pushed through, we would probably have seen a sudden influx of sex tourists in the Philippines! Now that would have given Patpong in Thailand a run for its money. And here lies our first indication of how un-researched the project was.
Then the glaring similarity with Poland’s tourism logo. Er, Poland? That’s not even a tropical country like the Philippines. And why was there a need to take inspiration from the logo of Poland, and other countries for that matter? One look at our very ‘beautiful Pilipinas’ would have been more than enough to stir creative juices.
It was just all so daft I fell over laughing.
Now in fairness to the whole comic-disaster, I must also say that I admire Undersecretary Vicente Romano, notwithstanding his many flimsy justifications and explanations, for having the courage and sense of accountability to take on the fault, and the decency to resign. In his bowing-out press conference, Romano admitted that his attempt to rush the project was one of the major causes of its failure. He said he was “in a hurry” to launch it because he was “fully convinced that every day we do not run a campaign is a lost opportunity to boost our tourism arrivals. It is a lost opportunity to generate jobs and alleviate poverty”. Well, all that rush cost Filipino taxpayers, at the very least, almost P5 million just for the launching event. That’s not counting the price for man-hours spent preparing for it and all the related expenses for meetings, transport, etc. etc.
This rush-rush brings to mind the recent haste with which the provincial government made public the fish pens/dikes issue at the Hundred Islands National Park. With just a photo in hand, the Espino administration and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan were so eager-beaver to declare to the media, and of course consequently to the people, that they want an investigation, hinting that this most popular tourist destination in the province is being mismanaged. The dikes issue is legitimate and it is indeed a longstanding problem that needs to be resolved. But it can be done without having to unduly put the Hundred Islands, Alaminos City and its local government in a bad light as what happened. Tourists are not attracted to intrigue-ridden places. Unlike in showbusiness where bad publicity is still publicity, bad publicity in tourism is nothing but a major turn-off for potential visitors.
The Philippines is impatient for change, people do want things to be better ASAP because they have been struggling against bad governance, economic difficulties, and social disparities for too long. And tourism, as many other countries prove, is one key industry that could haul in income and help spur development.
Now in this rush, we have to stop and ask: is the Philippines ready for the millions and millions of tourists that it wants to attract – the backpackers (often young explorers who are excited to see the world even on a tight budget), the mid-rangers (adventurers who want good value for their money and don’t mind paying for some travelling luxuries), the herds (who like packaged tours where they are brought around in a bus and herded in and out), the high-enders (who wouldn’t bat an eyelash over a $10 tag for a cup of coffee)?
Sure there are all those natural attractions all around the archipelago. But with inadequate infrastructure, a messy transport system, limited options for lodgings and other facilities, clumsy executives in national government, brawling local government officials, and people who still look at foreigners and think money-Joe Amerikano, how could tourists genuinely say “Pilipinas kay ganda”?
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