Philippine Department of Tourism shortlists seven agencies for creative account

Sources close to the pitch announced in July disclosed that the agencies left in the running are BBDO Guerrero, Dentsu, J. Romero & Associates, JWT, Lowe, McCann and Y&R. The agencies are now preparing to present their proposals on 15 September with the winner rolling out the campaign in December.

The Department of Tourism is looking for a brand new campaign to attract tourists to the country not only as a tourism destination but also for investments. 

This comes on the heels of The 'Pilipinas Kay Ganda' (Philippines What a Beauty) campaign created by Campaigns and Grey was scrapped in November last year after criticism that the slogan in the local Tagalog language did not resonate with foreign tourists, allegations that the logo was plagiarised from Poland's National Tourist office, and that the new website's URL, www.beautifulpilipinas.com, was too similar to that of a pornographic site.

Previously, the DoT used the 'Wow Philippines' campaign created by BBDO Guerrero for eight years.