Why Do We Care So Much About Our Tourism Slogans?

Another day, another tourism slogan. In late June, the Department of Tourism unveiled a brand new battlecry for the country’s perpetual campaign to lure in more visitors to spend their money here. As always, instant marketing, branding, and tourism “professionals”—as well as casual commentators—all rose out of the woodwork that is the internet to have their say. 

There are those who love the simplicity of “Love the Philippines”—a direct, no-nonsense expression of devotion for a country that has so much to offer. But there are the critics turned off by the seemingly blunt, desperate plea to solicit affection. A simple punctuation mark, some have argued, would’ve vastly improved the copy, and it hasn’t helped the cause of the DOT that certain images from the promotional video that was launched alongside the new slogan were apparently—gasp!—shot in countries that were certainly not here in the Philippines.

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There were other issues attached to the new slogan: a supposedly inflated budget, questionable visuals used in the logo, and why there was a need to change the slogan in the first place from one that was (relatively) popular and worked quite well. From the perspective of a cultural spectator, it seemed about right. It wouldn’t be a tourism slogan launch without a little (or a lot of) controversy.

This begs the question: why exactly are many of us so invested each time the powers-that-be take it upon themselves to scrap the previous campaign, start fresh, and launch a brand-new tourism rallying cry? Why are these branding and advertising refreshes such a big deal?

There’s the obvious reason, of course, which is that most Filipinos feel directly impacted by the campaign by virtue of their being Filipino. A new slogan reflects not just on the government and people working in the tourism industry—hotel and restaurant staff, airlines and tour operators, resort staff and guides—but all of us with friends and loved ones abroad, and even ourselves making plans to discover more of our homeland. The slogan amplifies how we communicate our love and fondness for our country and so we naturally have things to say, whether for or against, each time there’s a slogan reboot.

But I suspect it’s something more. The DOT may claim otherwise, but a new tourism slogan and campaign is a tacit admission that the old one isn’t working, or, at the very least, that it needs an update. Tens of millions of pesos are poured onto multi-media, multi-year campaigns like this, so of course the government would like to ensure that it goes beyond mere awareness into tangible returns. And for a country like the Philippines—a perceived tourism powerhouse based on numerous international awards and citations, not to mention a general reputation as a place blessed with abundant natural resources and stunning geography—the question is why that doesn’t exactly translate into concrete numbers. 

In ASEAN, Thailand is the runaway winner, recording nearly 40 million (39.8 million) tourist arrivals in 2019. Malaysia came in second with 20.1 million, followed by Vietnam with 18 million. Tiny Singapore managed 15.9 million, with Indonesia rounding out the Top 5 with 13.6 million.

The Philippines came in sixth with about half of Indonesia’s numbers: about 8.2 million tourists. Cambodia (6.7 million), Myanmar (4.3 million), Laos (3.4 million), and Brunei Darussalam (213,000) follow. 

The pandemic, of course, upended global travel, but 2022 marked a vast improvement in tourism arrivals compared to the two previous years. Thailand still led with 11.2 million inbound tourists, Malaysia with about 10 million, Singapore with 6.3 million, Indonesia with 5.5 million, and the Philippines at two million.

One can’t help but wonder, then, that for all its breathtaking natural beauty—our pristine beaches, our mountain hideways, our colorful festivals, our mouthwatering cuisine, and our much-vaunted Filipino hospitality— why the Philippines can’t seem to punch above its weight in terms of getting more tourists to come.

Could it be that so much attention and emphasis are heaped on these tourism slogan changes that we forget that there are numerous other factors to consider if we want to increase tourist arrivals to our shores? Tens of millions of pesos are spent on generating ideas to get people to come; how much have we spent on improving the overall experience of our guests once they get here?

This isn’t a dig at the DOT and the other government agencies who we’re sure are working tirelessly to elevate the entire tourism industry. And people have every right to criticize and complain when public funds are used on a campaign that ends up not just being substandard but downright sloppy. But there are many other factors beyond slogans and marketing campaigns that contribute to tourism arrivals that we can work on and maybe we should start turning our attention on those, like further developing some of the country’s culturally important sights and attractions, enhancing tourism support infrastructure and accessibility, strengthening the country’s economy, and many others.

The way people are seemingly obsessed with tourism slogan changes, you’d think they actually believe they’re wholly and exclusively responsible for drawing visitors in. Just over the last 20 or so years, we’ve had no less than seven tourism slogans, almost all of which were cooked up by a new administration, no doubt eager to show off what it can do. We’re no tourism or marketing professional, but we’ve always believed that a message of simplicity and consistency would trump one of novelty any day.

Perhaps it’s time our tourism leaders got to work crafting a creative, coherent slogan—one that communicates how much we are all proud of where we are and what we have—sell the hell out of it to us and to the rest of the world, and work on all of the other things that would make us truly, finally love the Philippines the way she deserves to be loved.