By Monsi A. Serrano
The Philippines’ biggest tourism mistake in recent years wasn’t the lack of a new slogan; it was betting too heavily on mainland Chinese tourists as the default recovery strategy.
For years, China was treated as the surest source market after the pandemic. That assumption ignored geopolitics, security advisories, visa frictions, and shifting travel patterns.
When demand failed to materialize at scale, the weakness of a single-market strategy became obvious. Europe, North America, the Middle East, and even ASEAN neighbors were left underpromoted—and underutilized.
This strategic blind spot was compounded by branding without backbone.
In 2023, the government launched the “Love the Philippines” rebrand, reportedly costing around ₱50 million. A new logo and slogan might have worked, if backed by planning and sustained funding.
Instead, the Department of Tourism’s promotions budget collapsed from over ₱1.2 billion to ₱200 million, then to just ₱100 million by 2025. The campaign barely had time to breathe.
Some are hailing the proposal from Senator JV Ejercito to simply increase the tourism budget as a “solution”—a claim that I find idiotic and laughable if it were not so dangerous. Pouring more money into an agency that has yet to explain the rationale behind spending millions on a new logo and slogan is not reform; it is rewarding failure and breeding inevitable corruption, leading to further misuse of public funds.
If the Department of Tourism could not utilize its existing budget with discipline and clear outcomes, why should taxpayers believe that a larger allocation will suddenly produce competence? In the corporate world, no department receives additional funding without concrete plans and measurable programs. Plan first, then budget. Budget without planning is blind. Without clear targets and expected returns, even a billion pesos can vanish without impact.
Yet in government, the opposite mentality prevails: inflate the budget as a miracle cure while refusing to admit that the real disease is the absence of strategy. This malpractice treats public money as an endless well and accountability as an afterthought—exactly the culture that has kept Philippine tourism running on slogans instead of results.
Over-centralization also hurt execution. Tourism is local, yet regions are often reduced to implementing Manila-designed ideas. Regional offices should be empowered to design their own campaigns, with budgets tied to local strengths, while the central office ensures strategic coherence, not creative suffocation.
The same pattern appeared in the Philippines’ hosting of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit. While prestigious, the costs were never fully disclosed, and there is no clear evidence the event translated into sustained arrivals, bookings, or partnerships. Visibility, it seems, was prioritized over verifiable results.
Ironically, what still works is the old brand. In overseas tourism promotions in 2025 — from Europe to the Middle East — embassies continued using “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” materials. The slogan endured because it resonated. It didn’t need reinvention; it needed proper promotion.
The lesson is simple: Tourism success is not about slogans or summits. It is about planning, diversified markets, decentralized execution, and accountability for every peso spent.
The Philippines has no shortage of destinations. What it needs is discipline. Without it, even the most polished campaigns will remain expensive exercises in visibility rather than engines of sustainable growth.