Tourism chief rallies Filipinos to focus on Philippines’ positive aspects

An egret forages for food in a swamp on Taganak Island, a protected sanctuary in the Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi. Photo by Orlando Maliwanag

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Filipinos must focus on the positive—instead of the negative—aspects of the country to bring in more tourists, according to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr.

“We have expended a lot of energy talking about our country and its problems but talking about the country that deserves a visit from the world, very little,” said Jimenez who was in Cebu on Tuesday for a series of engagements.

“The fact remains, the investment in our image, or the lack of it, is the reason for a very, very dismal market share,” he added.

The Philippines, with its 3.5 million tourists in 2010, is lagging behind other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member-countries such as Malaysia (24 million), Thailand (15.6 million), Singapore (11.6 million), Indonesia (7 million) and Vietnam (5 million).

Jimenez noted that the Thais are very enthusiastic about their country.

“It’s no surprise we are where we are. Maybe, it’s cultural. Maybe [Filipinos think] it’s bad form to talk very proudly of what we have or maybe it’s a result of conditioning. We now believe the bad stories we have about ourselves,” he pointed out.

Jimenez reiterated his earlier statement that “a real tourism campaign is a people’s campaign.”

“It takes a nation to sell a nation. Filipinos have to participate in building the (tourism) industry, because tourism is primarily dependent on the quality of the experience,” he said.

Jimenez cited the “Come Visit My Philippines” Facebook account started by a New York-based Filipina, Bessie Badilla, which has photos of different areas in the Philippines.

Since it was started seven weeks ago, it now has 27,000 members and 10,000 photos have been posted, Jimenez said.

“We have discovered a resource that we never realize that we have. The Filipino people, especially the young people, love their country. That is the advantage we will always have,” he said.