Keep ‘It’s more fun in the PH’ tagline – it’s more fun

TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco is making sure the industry — and travelers alike — is not identifying the new country branding, “We Give the World Our Best,” recently introduced by the Office of the Presidential Advisor on Creative Communications, as her department’s tourism brand for the Philippines.

She said the latest initiative “translates to everything that permeates our sense of hospitality and service as a tourism industry. ‘We give the world our best’ is a statement of fact. It is a rallying call.

“And it is [an] aspiration for those who may still face a host of challenges and through government intervention will finally have the opportunity to be developed and fully maximized.”

In a recent engagement with local tourism frontliners, she said, “The DoT (Department of Tourism) will subsequently come out with a tourism brand for the Philippines, aligned with the country brand, and enhancing the present tagline.”

Bob Zozobrado, current president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines, said, “She (Secretary Frasco) assured me and all the other travel organizations that this is not a tourism slogan.”

He added, “She would consult us first before crafting a new tourism slogan.”

The concept of launching a fresh tourism branding initiative, however, did not appear to stir strong interest nor build excitement among industry professionals and stalwarts.

Well-known chef Myrna Segismundo said, “There’s going to be a new tagline again?

“Everything changes every time a new administration comes in. Since there is no continuity, everything is always just beginning.”

Jojo Clemente, president of Rajah Tours Philippines, echoed the popular sentiment of the private sector, which saw no need to abandon the immensely successful “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” campaign, a brainchild of the then-Tourism chief Ramon Jimenez Jr., and launched in 2012. Clemente observed, “It’s a slogan that works and continues to do so. It put the country on the radar of foreign markets. It encapsulates the country, its people and what’s best about the Philippines.”

Zozobrado agreed with his colleague, saying, “It’s more fun” gave us the arrival numbers we needed. The momentum is already there. If we come up with a new slogan. We may start from scratch all over again.”

Alejandra Clemente, who founded Rajah Tours Philippines and is a pioneering pillar of their trade, has this to say: “I don’t think it’s the right time for a new slogan. DoT should focus on tourism recovery. With their meager promotion and marketing budget, they shouldn’t plow this into a branding campaign that entails billions of pesos and takes years to be accepted in the international market.

“I can’t understand the logic of changing the ‘It’s more fun in the Philippines’ slogan now and shelving its promotional materials. As it is, the DoT has no campaign tagline, only Philippines.”