Awesome Phillippines

The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) is responsible for the development of local and foreign tourism. Under Secretary Ace Durano, it marked a record 3.14 million tourist arrivals in 2008, thanks largely to his focused approach to destination marketing.

Philippine Tourism wanted to target high-potential markets like Korea and China; and focused segments like young travellers, to boost international arrivals. A study conducted by the World Youth, Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation revealed youth travel represented 20 percent of all international arrivals, and was a fast-growing sector.

In 2009, the PDOT faced a huge challenge - the fallout of the global economic crisis. Tourist arrivals from abroad were expected to fall as consumer incomes suffered. Complicating this was the global media attention on isolated incidences of kidnappings and local insurgency in the country. The marketing challenge was to put the country on the map of global youth travellers despite the economic recession, and change their perceptions of the Philippines.

To help cushion the effects of the global economic crisis, The PDOT strategically placed the global youth market as its key target. According to a poll by Global Gossip, 75% of this group are travelling just as much, or even more during recessions, with 20% actually motivated to travel during hard times. They also like to choose alternative destinations and are interested in cultural exchanges.

Given this group’s online connectivity and their desire to discover by themselves and share their experiences digitally, a form of co-creation was a critical element. Built around “Awesome Philippines”, the idea was to shift perceptions from a “CNN” mindset to a “MTV” one: mainstream yet irreverent; throwaway culture but sustainable ethics.

A four part series: MTV Revelations was created, featuring MTV video DJs and Filipino-American celebrities, such as Apl.de.ap of the Black Eyed Peas and Internet star “HappySlip” revealed awesome adventures with major Philippine destinations as backdrops. On each vignette, they challenged viewers: “So where am I? Search Awesome Experience on the web and win a trip for you and a friend!”

Fuelled by a keyword media buy (Google, Yahoo, and China’s Baidu), content and display ads on Google, Yahoo! and Viacom properties, young travellers carried on their journey to discover Asia’s best kept secret on www.awesomephilippines.com, where they could recreate their dream holiday and stood a chance to win it. They could “remix” their views of the Philippines by seeding 20 single-serving sites of music, photos and fun Filipino sensibilities. Traditional and online PR further magnified the advertising impact.

The global press came face-to-face with the Secretary of Philippine Tourism when the country’s 7,108th island was created via the MTV Revelations Island on Second Life.

“Awesome Philippines” was the Philippine Department of Tourism’s only major international campaign in 2009. The Philippines was named China’s most popular destination in Asia at the World Travel Fair 2009, and there were more awards at key trade events in Russia, Japan and Korea.  The Philippines witnessed a 2.7% increase in tourist arrivals for Jan-Sep 2009  and 6.5% growth in foreign visitors, led by the US, Korea, Japan and China.