They are scrapping the three-year-old tourism promotion campaign that is just starting to catch the world’s attention. But it’s still more fun at the Tourism department since the new administration took over.

They, however, seem to be somewhat confused on what to do. The only thing they are certain about is how to spend their budget for themselves.

I heard they have given sizeable bonuses to key executives using Land Bank cash gift certificates. They also now have three more undersecretaries than is allowed by the Tourism Act. And there is also an explosion in the population of assistant secretaries and directors.

Let us not get into foreign junkets because that can be justified as part of their job. But they invited over a dozen congressmen and two staff members of a senator to London during a recently held Tourism Market event there. The only way the congressmen contributed to our tourism promotion is by inflating Britain’s tourism numbers at the expense of the Filipino taxpayers.

The most fun they are having has to do with hosting the Miss Universe pageant here in January next year. President Duterte had the correct instinct of rejecting that event, but they convinced him it is a good idea.

They promised the President that all the expenses would be taken on by the private sector, but that isn’t possible in an event like that. Security costs alone, not to mention expenses of the Tourism officials should be rather significant.

The idea of hosting Miss Universe can’t be blamed solely on the current Tourism Secretary. The Tourism Promotions Board had long wanted to host the beauty pageant, even during the watch of Mon Jimenez.

But the sensible MonJ knew it didn’t make sense. Dentsu, the Japanese ad agency confirmed MonJ’s gut feel.

In the evaluation made by Dentsu dated Sept. 4, 2013, the agency recommended declining the proposal. The agency computed potential exposure benefit against costs and concluded that there was a negative return on investment.

Dentsu pointed out there is very low interest in the beauty pageant in key international markets we are interested in. Even in the United States, the interest in the Miss Universe coronation night telecast has declined significantly.

Dentsu noted there is low interest in it in Europe such that the 2012 event was only carried by live streaming on the Internet. It is not carried live in Japan but only on cable after the event. In Australia, the 2015 Miss Universe pageant was shown in a secondary station indicating low audience interest. In UK, it can reach only 11,000 individuals and there was not enough demand for a broadcast station to carry it in 2015.

But when asked to re-evaluate Miss Universe this year, Dentsu gave a positive recommendation even if they basically used the same basic figures in their earlier memo. All of a sudden their estimated media value was more than costs.

In their Feb. 29 memo, they noted it would be “a rare chance to let a Filipina Ms Universe to pass her crown the next Ms Universe right here in the Philippines.”

But Dentsu quickly added, as if to protect Dentsu’s reputation, “do note, however, that there is low interest of audience in various markets and not all markets will broadcast the said pageant.”

Sources say the agency was pressured by the Tourism Promotions Board to endorse the pageant. But Mon Jimenez was still unconvinced and that was it… until the new administration came into the picture.

Dentsu was obviously pressured because right after they declared the estimated media value is higher than the expense, it followed with a paragraph that reads:

“The general feedback from other markets is that the Miss Universe pageant is not a significant event that audiences will be watching. Moreover, most of the markets do not have live telecasts and some do not even broadcast.”

Hosting this pageant will divert so much of the attention of our tourism officials from more important aspects of their work. They must worry about hitting those visitor targets and this beauty contest will not be a big factor in helping them do that.

I am told they are banking on China’s promise to send two million Chinese tourists here next year. If that happens, they will certainly hit their visitor target without doing much.

But veterans in the local tourism industry are not impressed. The Chinese are seen as a low yield market. Indeed, they warn that if two million do come here, there will not be enough rooms or facilities. That may imperil our high yield market in Europe, North America and Japan..

That brings me to the next point. Even with Sec Jimenez, I thought it was premature to go full blast with the international campaign without first working on the tourism infrastructure, like hotels and airports.

But Mon’s reason, which I also accept, is that the More Fun campaign provided a national morale boost that encourages more Filipinos, specially our OFWs, to be proud of our country and help sell our tourism in the process.

Ideally, the role of the Tourism Secretary is to get his or her fellow Cabinet members to prioritize tourism infrastructure. The Cabinet position gives the Tourism Secretary some clout with his or her peers. Otherwise, the position doesn’t merit cabinet rank.

I hope the current Tourism Secretary will go out of her way to consult with private sector stakeholders. Start by talking to Samie Lim who heads PCCI’s tourism committee. He had some good ideas in a recent interview with @inquirerdotnet:

“The infrastructure chain—airport, access road, accommodation, and world-class attractions and activities—has now become inadequate for the six million international tourists and some 50 million domestic tourists.

“We now rank sixth out of 10 Asean countries in terms of international tourist arrivals. We have been overtaken by Indonesia and Vietnam.

“If we do not build our capacity for at least 20 million tourists by 2026, we will probably be overtaken by Cambodia and Myanmar and slide down to the 8th position.

“Even at 20 million international tourists, we will only have a 3.7-percent market share of the Asian market of 530 million by 2030.

“Although we have some of the best resorts in the world, there is the bad experience at the airport, the horrendous traffic, the questionable ratings of hotels, the low-quality equipment at tourist destinations. We also attract the mid-low end of tourists, who each spend less than $1,000 for the trip.

“We need to upgrade our facilities to attract the mid and high-end market that spends $2,000 to $4,000 per visit (per person).

“We are missing out on the biggest generator for tourism revenue, which is shopping. A tourist can buy several shoes, bags, clothing, jewelry, gadgets, but our prices are not competitive because we do not have the “VAT-refund system” for tourists like those offered by top tourist destinations. Take note a tourist can buy only one air ticket and one hotel room.

“They also buy dozens of souvenir items and food delicacies but our packaging is not good enough for gift-giving.

“With our limited budget, we should focus on what is easy to sell: Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, Intramuros, Cebu and Davao. And from there, we entice them to stay a few more days to visit other tourist destinations that are clustered about one hour from there…”

I have known Samie for years. He was one tough advertising client I once had. He knows his business.

I would have wanted to hear from the Tourism Secretary how she would respond to the points Samie raised to give me confidence she knows her stuff.

As Owen Cammayo of Resorts World summarized, the basics are the 8As to drastically improve tourism in the Philippines: arrival, access, accommodations, attractions, activities, advertising, academic linkage, and assurance of safety.

I think the Tourism department folks have to memorize the 8As to keep their focus.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/business/2016/11/23/1646401/still-more-fun-phl