Tourism Controversy

 There are two kinds of story that circle around the Department of Tourism lately. One is a bad news; the other a good news. Let’s start with the bad news. DOT, in its attempt to bring in more tourists to the country, changed the advertising slogan from “Wow Philippines” to “Pilipinas Kay Ganda.” The change was met with fierce criticism particularly coming from those who are more sensitive with global trends and have traveled wider and farther than the advertising thinkers at the DOT. They said English is the global language of business communication. Obviously, English is more understood by anyone else in the planet than Tagalog. You want to lure foreign tourists to come to the Philippines? Use English as your advertising language, the critics say.

The criticism spread like a wildfire in the Internet. Some government officials joined the public protest. They called for the scrapping of a rather unimaginative and unattractive tourism slogan for the Philippines. Consequently, DOT listened to the mounting protest. It abandoned the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” marketing byline and reinstated “Wow Philippines”, a more familiar one and has been applauded for many years.

Looking at the standpoint of a neutral person, the critics were right in lambasting the new slogan. Our Asian neighbors have been promoting their destinations using English, thus “Amazing Thailand” for Thailand, “Malaysia, Truly Asia” for Malaysia, “Cambodia, Kingdom of Wonder” for Cambodia, or “Vietnam – the Hidden Charm” for Vietnam. “Pilipinas Kay Ganda”? Isn’t that strange?

On the other hand, the good news is that boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has expressed willingness to stand as a poster boy for Philippine tourism. The idea came right after he defeated Antonio Margarito for the WBO super welterweight title, Pacquiao’s eight championship belt in as many divisions Because of Pacquiao’s fast-growing global prominence and importance, certain government executives want to take advantage of his popularity. Pacquiao promoting Philippine tourism should have been offered to the Filipino boxing icon way back in 2008 when he defeated Oscar De la Hoya or even earlier than that year. And Pacquiao could have gladly and humbly accepted the responsibility of inviting foreigners to explore the Philippines’ best sites.