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'Love the Philippines' slogan row no match for revenge travelers: PHILTOA

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Raffy Cabristante, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Tourists flock at the Boracay Island in April 2022. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/tvpatrol/04/18/boracay.jpg"/><figcaption>Tourists flock at the Boracay Island in April 2022. <em>Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News/file</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Revenge travelers continued to flock to the Philippines despite a recent fiasco on the country&#x27;s new tourism slogan, the president of a group of tour operators said Sunday.</p><p>Philippine Tour Operators&#x27; Association (PHILTOA) President Fe Abling-Yu told TeleRadyo Serbisyo that the controversy surrounding the country&#x27;s new &quot;Love The Philippines&quot; tourism campaign had little to no effect on foreign tourists, who continue to come to the country after 3 years of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p>Abling-Yu said the country&#x27;s tour operators continue to be more &quot;aggressive&quot; in their approach of attracting tourists to the Philippines, as foreign tourists themselves were just as &quot;aggressive&quot; in spending money for travel.</p><p>&quot;Palibhasa hindi po nakaalis ng tatlong taon, ay naging agresibo [sila]. Iyon po iyong tinatawag naming revenge tourism. Ang dami ring revenge spenders... Ang gusto po nila ngayon, more than [a] picture, is the experience,&quot; she said.</p><p>She added that while the &quot;Love the Philippines&quot; slogan did somehow help them in their tourism efforts, PHILTOA &quot;did not bank on the slogan that much.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Hindi naman po iyon nakasagabal sa aming agresibong pagsusulong ng turismo dito sa ating bansa. Hindi naman po iyon naging hadlang sa amin na gumagawa ng mga pakete para bisitahin ang Pilipinas lalo na ng ating mga dayuhan,&quot; she said.</p><p>Abling-Yu also said that tour operators in the country were &quot;business as usual&quot; despite the tourism department&#x27;s slogan fiasco, especially that the their sector was still bouncing back from the effects of the pandemic.</p><p>&quot;Kami ay business as usual, ang pagiging business as usual namin ngayon ay mas agresibo. Dahil kailangan po naming mapunan kung ano po iyong pinagdaanan namin sa loob ng halos 3 taon,&quot; she said.</p><p>The Department of Tourism (DOT) last month launched its new &quot;Love The Philippines&quot; branding to mixed reception, and later drew heavy flak after a video supporting the slogan used stock footage of sceneries from other countries.</p><p>The advertising agency behind the video, DDB Philippines, has since apologized for the blunder, resulting to the DOT <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/03/23/dot-to-terminate-contract-with-ad-agency-after-video-blunder">terminating its contract</a> with the firm.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/02/23/ad-agency-sorry-over-stock-footage-in-love-the-philippines-video">Ad agency apologizes over use of stock footage in &#x27;Love The Philippines&#x27; video</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/27/23/love-the-philippines-is-new-tourism-branding">DOT launches &#x27;Love the Philippines&#x27; as &#x27;enhanced&#x27; tourism campaign</a></li></ul><p>Amid calls for a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/04/23/congressional-probe-on-tourism-video-blunder-inevitable-solon">congressional probe</a> on the gaffe, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said DOT Secretary Christina Frasco still enjoys his trust and confidence.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/07/23/marcos-jr-says-frasco-will-fix-tourism-ad-blunder">Marcos Jr. says Frasco will fix tourism ad blunder</a></li></ul><p>As of May 2023, there have been 2.38 million international arrivals to the Philippines, Abling-Yu said, citing DOT figures.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QH2d50m7MA4?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Revenge travelers continued to come to the Philippines despite a fiasco on its new tourism slogan, the president of a group of tour operators said.

'Love the Philippines' slogan row no match for revenge travelers: PHILTOA

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'Love the Philippines' slogan row no match for revenge travelers: PHILTOA

Raffy Cabristante,

ABS-CBN News

Published July 09, 2023 12:55 PM PHT

Read More:

Revenge travel

DOT

Department of Tourism

Love the Philippines

PHILTOA

tourism

Christina Fiasco

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