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Tourism chief sees online Pinoys as ‘game changers’


Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez, a former top advertising executive, may have begun to form the framework of the country’s new tourism strategy and a core element of it is the cyberspace influence of Filipinos. Jimenez said on Thursday that the Philippines should move away from “traditional" tourism campaigns, which largely involve paid advertisements, and instead harness “game changing" media like Facebook and Twitter. In his speech before the Advertising Congress held in Naga City, Jimenez noted that other countries competing for tourists have “all the money to spend on advertising." He said this is traditional tourism, which involves “centrally controlled and crafted marketing communications." Jimenez, however, pointed out the Philippines’ strength in numbers online, with over 12 million overseas Filipino workers, 27 million Filipinos on Facebook, and 10 million on Twitter. “The game changer will be a campaign that will have a central strategy executed and propagated by millions of active, enthusiastic Filipinos who feel they have the power to persuade people to visit their country as tourists," he said. “More than any other country in Asia," Jimenez explained, “the Philippines has the power of buzz, and buzz creation beyond anything our competition can generate." ‘Sell it at every turn’ Since his first weeks in office, the Tourism chief has advocated the use of social media to sell the Philippine brand to potential tourists. “Believe in the beauty of your country. Sell it at every turn. Sell it on Facebook, on Twitter, on Multiply. Talk about your country because we deserve a visit from the world," Jimenez said in a one-on-one interview on GMA News TV’s “State of the Nation" newscast. Just last Saturday, the Philippines gained a potential boost in tourism after the New7Wonders Foundation announced that the Puerto Princesa Underground River is now on its provisional list of the New Seven Wonders of Nature. Meanwhile, GMA News’ 24 Oras newscast reported that this year, over 4,000 delegates from different advertising agencies and media outfits gathered in Camarines Sur for the Ad Congress with the theme “Change the Game."
On Friday, the heads of the three major Philippine networks – ABS-CBN, GMA-7, and TV5 – will share the stage during the Ad Congress, “24 Oras" also said. — ELR, GMA News

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