Destination: Philippines

Imagine an exotic place with pristine, white sand beaches, the modern
conveniences and amenities of luxury hotels, the simple pleasures of
visiting historical sites in the midst of a progressive environment filled with huge malls and upscale buildings. Annie Cuevas’ job — and the
challenge that goes with it — is to promote the Philippines as a prime tourist destination in Asia. Easy? Try doing that on the smallest possible budget.

By Val G. Abelgas

When Annie Cuevas took over the helm of the Philippine Department of Tourism office in Los Angeles as Officer-in-Charge on May 14, 1999, she faced the same challenge others before her had to confront — to promote the Philippines as a prime tourist destination in Asia among the American people with the smallest possible budget. Cuevas knew it would be a very difficult task, but she believed in the Philippines’ tourism potential and gladly accepted the challenge.

Armed with five years of experience in tourism promotion, and with plenty of guts and creativity, Cuevas went on with the task of selling the Philippines to Americans and Filipino-Americans despite the very limited budget that the DOT main office could provide. Nine months after she took over as OIC of the DOT office in Los Angeles, Cuevas is proud of her accomplishments.

“The Philippines has definitely a lot to offer to tourists — beautiful beaches, friendly people, unique scenic spots, colorful fiestas, and rich cultural and historical traditions. But despite these, it’s sad that the country still lags behind its Asian neighbors as far as tourism is concerned,” said Cuevas, who assumed the OIC position after being designated Public Relations Officer, the second highest ranking position next to the regional director. The position of regional director has remained vacant since Rusty Ricaforte was named Tourism Undersecretary in 1998.

“The Department of Tourism, under Secretary Gemma Cruz, has embarked on an aggressive program to correct the situation. And we, at the DOT office in Los Angeles, are tasked with making both the mainstream and Filipino population in this part of the United States aware of these wonderful tourist attractions and warm welcome awaiting them once they visit the Philippines,” she added.

The Los Angeles office is responsible for marketing and promoting the Philippines as a primary tourist destination to markets in the southwestern states and in Latin America.
“My primary objective is to pursue the new tourism strategies under Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz, whose principal thrust is to return to the basics of tourism development,” said Cuevas, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Maryknoll College and a marketing degree from American College.

“This means developing projects that are enduring and sustainable, community-based, environment-friendly, and will promote love of Philippine culture and historical awareness,” she added.

Cuevas’ first target was the Filipino-American market.

“Many Filipinos who immigrated to America have not really seen the numerous scenic and historical spots in the Philippines. We want our countrymen to see the many changes that have been made as far as tourism is concerned. We want them to enjoy the many beautiful tourist destinations of our country, to experience once again the warm hospitality of their own people, and to experience the rich cultural heritage of our home country,” Cuevas said.

Fully aware that the Filipino travel agents are the first persons that Filipinos would approach when planning to return to the Philippines as a balikbayan, Cuevas organized destination seminars for Filipinos involved in the travel industry, such as travel agents and tour operators.

On Aug, 2 last year, the DOT organized a presentation by Philippine tour operators, hoteliers and resort owners, attended by more than 300 local travel agents, tour operators, and Filipino community leaders.

In November 1999, the DOT office conducted a destination seminar for 20 travel agents and tour operators at the Philippine American Museum on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, and another destination seminar for 10 travel agents also at the Philippine American Museum this month.

During the seminars, Cuevas and other DOT personnel give a slide presentation of the eight primary tourist destinations in the Philippines that meet international standards. These destinations are Metro Manila, Baguio/Banaue, Vigan/Laoag, Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Boracay, and Davao. The seminar includes updates on what the eight destinations have to offer, hotel and other accommodations, dining and entertainment, activities, domestic airline schedules, inland transportation, hotel rates and plane fares, and available package tours.

“We also hand out brochures on these destinations for dissemination to their clients,” Cuevas added.

In addition, DOT-LA assisted Philippine hotels, resort and tour operators conduct product presentations, seminars and sales missions in Southern California, among them the Southeast Asia Travel International, Galleria Suites and Manila Midtown, American Express Platinum Travel Services, Focus Travel & Tours, Shangri-La Hotel, Heritage Hotel, and Shangri-La Edsa Plaza. During these activities, Cuevas and other DOT personnel distributed travel agent’s packets, conducted destination seminars, and helped Philippine operators close deals with California-based travel agents.

Cuevas also makes it a point to attend activities of the Asian Travel Marketing Association (ATMA) and EATA to distribute promo materials on the Philippines and to network with mainstream travel agents.

The DOT office has also taken very active participation in Filipino community activities in its effort to reach out to Filipino-Americans. Cuevas said they have helped numerous Filipino groups organize trips to the Philippines, such as medical missions, golf tours, and balik-fiesta.

“We help them arrange special discounts, tours, VIP reception with customs and immigration assistance, hotel accommodations, shopping at duty free shops, and many others,” Cuevas said.

The DOT has special programs for visiting and returning balikbayans. For example, any group composed of 10 or more people will enjoy VIP treatment upon arrival at the airport, with customs and immigration assistance. DOT personnel, dressed in colorful Filipino costumes, will warmly welcomes group members with sampaguita leis while rondallas play folk music. The DOT also offers special services, such as passport renewal and visa processing. For bigger groups, DOT can arrange complimentary city tours, tour guide, special discounts and packages at de luxe hotels and golf courses, and an audience with Tourism Secretary Gemma Cruz or Tourism Undersecretary Ram Antonio.

Among the groups assisted by the DOT-LA office recently were the Sinulog 2000, composed of 168 Cebuanos who attended the Sinulog fiesta in Cebu, Jan. 11; Manila Golf Paradise, composed of 138 golfers, Jan. 27; Manila Golf Holiday, composed of 37 golfers, Feb. 5; Manila Golf Jamboree, 20 golfers, Feb. 5; Paradise Valley Lions medical mission, 20 members, Feb. 16; Health Care Providers continuing education seminar at Shangri-La Hotel, Feb. 16.

The DOT also started reaching out to Filipino-American youths by initiating a Fil-Am Youth Outreach program. For starters, Cuevas helped organize Tourism Youth Councils in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

“These councils help the DOT with our projects for the youth, to encourage Fil-Am youths to visit their home country and rediscover their roots,” Cuevas said.
In San Diego, the youth council has been coordinating with a tour operator for a youth study tour program in the Philippines. The group will launch the program on Saturday, February 26, in San Diego.

“So far, they already have 10 confirmed participants. During the kickoff ceremonies, they will invite more youths to join the tour scheduled during the summer vacation in June or July. They plan to visit Cebu and Boracay,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas said non-Filipino students and teachers are interested in joining the tour. She said her office is helping them coordinate the planned trip to the Philippines, together with the tour operator.

“I hope other student groups will follow the lead of the San Diego group and organize their own study tour program,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas said they have also conducted destination seminars for travel and tourism students. So far, the DOT has conducted one such seminar at UCLA involving 10 students last December. Another has been scheduled at UCLA for summer students.
“We have to give these students a good impression of the Philippines, especially on tourism, so that when they graduate and become travel industry workers, they will promote the Philippines among their clients,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas said the DOT-LA office is actively reaching out to various Filipino-American associations in local schools and universities by making presentations to these second and third-generation Filipino-Americans. She said the DOT is now arranging with Los Angeles-based tour operators to organize study tours for Fil-Am youth groups under the “Lakbay-Aral” and “Discover Your Heritage” programs of DOT.

As part of their effort to touch base with Fil-Am youths, Cuevas said the DOT-La Office has helped various Fil-Am student groups in their participation in Asian festivals by helping them obtain Filipino costumes and prepare booth displays. Among the student groups assisted by DOT are those in Santa Ana College, Loyola Marymount University, and the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The other major target of the DOT-LA office is the mainstream American market.

To achieve this goal, Cuevas plans to participate in as many trade shows as possible, but budget constraints are preventing them from doing so.

From Jan. 17 to 22 this year, the DOT-LA Office participated in the Diving Equipment and Manufacturers Exhibition in Las Vegas, where more than 12,000 diving enthusiasts from all over the United States gathered.

During the exhibition, Cuevas and other DOT personnel put up a booth, where they handed out materials about the Philippines, especially about diving resorts in the country.

“The Philippines has some of the best diving sites in the world. Foremost among these sites are the Tubbatha Reef between Mindoro and Palawan, and the Busuanga site west of Mindoro island,” Cuevas said. “The diving market is a big market we want to tap.”

Cuevas said the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices are coordinating closely to jointly tap this market. Last October, the San Francisco office started a familiarization tour in the Philippines, joined by 12 divers. Cuevas said in April, the San Francisco and LA offices will jointly conduct another familiarization tour, with DOT-LA already assured of at least 10 divers.

Knowing that the media can help a lot in promoting Philippine tourism, Cuevas has cultivated good relations with both the mainstream and Filipino media members. Just recently, Cuevas assisted John Henderson, a travel writer for the Denver Post and the Los Angeles Times, arrange a trip to the Philippines. Henderson visited Boracay, Bohol and Palawan, and wrote an article, entitled “New Year in Panglaw Island” (in Bohol) for the Denver Post complete with beautiful photos of the island’s beaches.

Cuevas is very proud of these accomplishments, but is most happy about her role in helping organize Filipino retail travel agents into an association.

“This is a milestone in the Filipino-American travel industry. By organizing, Fil-Am travel agents will have a bigger voice as far as in dealing with big airlines and travel consolidators. For example, Fil-Am travel agents are being brought down by Korean travel agents, who, in cohort with Korean airlines, offer very low rates to the detriment of Fil-Am agents,” Cuevas said.

Cuevas added that as a fully-organized group, the Fil-Am travel agents can do a lot to help promote the Philippines as a primary tourist destination in Asia. The group is headed by Ric Enrique of Travel International as president, and Emil Perito of Air and Sea Travel, and Nati and Leo Copino of Majuelo Travel.

Cuevas said she hopes that all of these activities will help sell the Philippines to travellers from the United States, which accounts for about 23% of tourist arrivals in the Philippines each year.