DOT VI clarifies exclusion of Iloilo in tourism campaign

By Leny G. Gabo

Department of Tourism (DOT-VI) regional director Edwin Trompeta recently issued a letter of clarification on the exclusion of the Iloilo Dinagyang festival on the tourism campaign “I love Philippines Biyahe Na!”

In his letter, Trompeta explained that it is not the intention of the DOT to exclude any event, attraction or destination in any of its campaign.

He said, “ the overriding policy is to get everyone to be active participants in the business of tourism promotion, notwithstanding limitations imposed by ad space, financial, technical and artistic feasibilities.”

He added that the DOT domestic tourism campaign is not limited to the current print ad/ TV commercial run.

He explained that his office is embarking the three phases such as: the summer months that features fiestas, destinations and festivals. The second phase is during the rainy season, which focuses on foods and shopping. The third phase is the Christmas Holidays.   

He further explained that the ad/commercial is a production of Smart Telecom to help promote travel in support of the DOT's domestic tourism campaign dubbed as “I love Philippines Biyahe Na!”  

According to Trompeta the campaign is a take off from the WOW Philippines , More than the Usual and “ Ang Ganda nag Pilipinas , Ang Galing ng Pilipino”, which are tourism campaigns of former DOT Secretaries Richard Gordon and   Roberto Pagdanganan .

The “ Ang Ganda ng Pilipinas , Ang Galing ng Pilipino” theme song produced by Pfizer, was adopted y Smart with modifications for the “I love Philippines , Biyahe Na!” with Regine Velasquez as campaign endorser.

The ad/commercial is a generic marketing tool intended to highlight Luzon , Visayas and Mindanao .

Trompeta asserted that it was not intended to promote specific events or destination, as it is impossible to accommodate all the provinces/cities and the 7 , 100 islands of this country.

Further, he explained that the visuals that were used were selected for their impact and easy recall. The visuals were not identified in order to preserve the generic nature of the ad.

The amount of images/text that can be accommodated is dictated by the available space without sacrificing clarity and visual impact of the ad, Trompeta said.