Singer Ogie Alcasid sees arts, culture as keys to boosting Philippine tourism

Ogie Alcasid. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines – Tourism players should capitalize on the Philippines’ rich culture and beautiful art to encourage foreigners to visit the country.

Speaking before members of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association on Tuesday, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Heritage Ambassador Herminio “Ogie” Alcasid Jr. said these could be the key distinctions that tourism industry players could use to their advantage.

“What makes the Philippines different are our culture, heritage and people. The PTAA should focus on arts and culture to push tourism,” he said.

In an interview on the sidelines of the meeting, PTAA president Aileen Clemente said Alcasid’s suggestion was actually one of the organization’s plans.

“When tourists come here, it’s still the beaches that they’re after, but we really need to also promote our culture and arts. We have so much of that,” she said. “We need to find our niché, to identify the void that we need to fill.”

She said the country’s being the only Catholic country in the region could actually work to its advantage. Like Thailand, which has successfully highlighted its temples, the Philippines could promote its churches and use these as come-ons for foreign tourists.

The tourism industry, she said, had a lot of different niches, one of them being culture and arts. Tour packages could focus on visits to churches and heritage sites, going beyond just the usual beaches.

Other niches that the tourism industry could play in included soft adventures, leisure travel, honeymooners, destination weddings, pilgrimages and shopping, she said.

These other niches had a lot of potential for growth, she said, as the majority of the clients of PTAA member-agencies have been holiday tourists, or those after resting on beaches and shopping.

Even for tourists with shopping as their primary reason for traveling, she said arts and culture could still be used as leverage by the local tourism industry.

“We have a lot of art and handicrafts that foreigners love to buy. We can use those to get them to visit our country,” she said.