Tourism Slogan free essay sample

TITLE: Tourism Slogan Its effectiveness in Marketing the Country A. Introduction In the past few months, news of the Department of Tourisms (DOT) new slogan for attracting tourists into the country quickly spread. Apparently, the DOTs replacement for â€Å"WOW Philippines† is â€Å"Pilipinas, Kay Ganda†. The tourism department received a lot of criticisms about the change. Critics questioned the rationale behind the change and whether using the local language will attract tourists.WOW Philippines has been used in the past years and was an effective promotional phrase because it is short, easy to remember and can easily be understood by everyone especially the foreigners. Conceptualized by then tourism chief and now Senator Richard Gordon, the word WOW means Wealth of Wonders among others. There are some in favor of this new slogan â€Å"Pilipinas, Kay Ganda† because they wanted to be used our own language in our country itself. But some are disagree and they still want the previous slogan WOW Philippines because they think that the government are maybe rushed in coming out with a new brand. But what we need is something that can be understood by any nationality and would create a great impact to every individual. The latest criticism and accusations making the rounds of social networking sites on the Internet is that the Pilipinas Kay Ganda logo was lifted from Polands own tourism campaign, â€Å"Polska†. A check with the official travel website of Poland showed that indeed, their logo has a striking similarity to Pilipinas Kay Ganda from the font, the colors, and even the use of a tree (well granted, that of the Philippines is a coconut tree, while that of Poland is, well a common tree).Theres a lot of speculations about our slogan that is not yet done. A debate that is still existing. Meanwhile, The DOT Secretary Alberto Lim says The latest effort by the government to craft and communicate an all-encompassing message to the world about what Singapore is all about, what makes it unique and great is likely to fail. It went on to argue that Singapore has firmly established itself as the premiere business destination. Why repackage Singapore to mean something else? Why fix it when it a int broke? Similarly, some people are questioning the wisdom of our own rebranding. Why not just build on the brand equity of Wow Philippines? With our limited budget, can we really successfully launch and sustain a new brand? The answer is quite simple. At a time when every nation, big or small, is either creating a new brand or repackaging their current ones, would you rather rehash an 8-year old brand? Besides, a new brand always generates a buzz that translates to more media mileage for the same promotional budget. Even more importantly, this is a good opportunity for us to express in a fresh manner the hope and optimism that the Aquino administration represents.Finally, let me just say that a brand, by itself no matter how solid the concept is, no matter how stunning the visuals are and how compelling the slogan is, no matter how big the budget is cannot guarantee success.  ¬ Singapore launched its new brand early this year. And already, they have achieved their arrival target for the year as early as October. We can only conclude that Singapore has successfu lly repositioned itself from a business destination to one where you can work and play. Of course, the brand launch was timed with the opening of a theme park and casinos.Without a doubt, Singapore’s old brand was relevant to its primary market –the business traveler. It was believable. The business and communications infrastructure were in place. And it was distinctive. Singapore was one of the few, if not the only one, who can claim to be the business hub in the region. When they expanded their market to include the leisure traveler, they needed to project a new Singapore. The idea of a â€Å"work and play† destination was certainly relevant to this new market. The casinos and theme park made it believable.And once again, Singapore can lay claim to that distinctive brand. Of course, a brand must also have attractive visuals and a catchy slogan. And Singapore’s new brand has that too. Now, we are looking forward which is the best slogan in tourism industry. If it is better in marketing the country and why does this slogan needs to be improve? or by this slogan, there is a possibility to effectively market the country? or this positioning statement for the country’s tourism promotion efforts may possibly go down in advertising and marketing communications as classic case of ineffective branding? We are targeting the students in Lyceum of the Philippines University taking up Bachelor Science in Tourism and faculty members in our CITHM (College of International Tourism and Hospitality Management) department as our respondents. The country’s new tourism slogan may not be accepted a hundred percent by everyone because of the different opinions of every individual. And because of that, we thought of using some strategies that may be applied in marketing the slogan and so as the country.The DOT may market the new slogan to the people by advertising it on television, radio, newspaper, and posting of tarpaulins. These may caught the interest of the individuals to involve themselves in marketing the country by supporting the new tourism slogan of the Philippines. And also , these strategies may inculcate to their minds the significance of using our own language in marketing the country. So they may understand why DOT come up with the new brand â€Å"Pilipinas,kay Ganda† rather than sticking to the previous slogan â€Å"WOW Philippines†.This study will determine the effectiveness of Tourism slogan in marketing the country. B. Background (History of the Problem) The history of the Tourism slogan of the country (Philippines) will determine the answers to the problem and the rationale of its change. The Philippines have a new administration. Naturally, everything must be renewed. Even including that slogan, WOW Philippines which is identified with the Arroyo administration. WOW Philippines slogan, might have worked in the past. It is doubtful if it is still. But since the Philippines is on new beginning it is but proper to repackage our country, slogan included. WOW Philippines is the slogan at the time when its leader was involved in many anomalies. It is the slogan in a time where the rulers abused their powers and it is the slogan when the country suffered from bad governance. This might just be a slogan but it is attached to the past administration. Why there is so much trouble about the present administrations act of changing anything attached to the past administration?Also, all of the slogan of former President of the Philippines Erap Estrada before Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) were replaced that of her. Those who are complaining now were the ones cheering when Gloria Arroyo unleash his broom to sweep all the appointees of Erap Estrada. Now, WOW Philippines attains no right to be the country’s tourism slogan. The change of the slogan was made after a very full research aimed at improving the tourism industry. The problem with the people of the past administration is that it thinks it has the monopoly of good ideas.If that were so, this country could have attained a first world status, after 9 years of their brilliant governance. Instead it still remain the sick man of Asia at part only of the economic rankings of lesser developed Asian countries. And what are the opposition Congressman doing when they join the chorus of protest against the new slogan? Current Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has ordered the Department of Tourism (DOT) to come up with a better slogan following the Pilipinas Kay Ganda (Philippines What a Beauty).