Philippines rolls out $2m drive to kickstart tourism

MANILA: The Philippines is injecting US $2 million in an Asia-Pacific and European TV campaign to revive the tourism industry and hit three million annual visitor arrivals.

The 'WOW Philippines' campaign, short for 'Wealth of Wonders', is airing on CNN and the BBC. It summarises the variety of attractions the country has to offer from nature, culture, adventure and sports tours. The comeback campaign was made possible after the tourism promotional budget was boosted from US $600,000 to $5 million in a bid to restore confidence following a series of high-profile kidnappings of tourists in the past two years.

Other Government branches have chipped in an additional eight million pesos (about $160,000) to marketing funds, and private sector organisations such as San Miguel Corporation ShoeMart Corporation and multinational companies are also contributing an undisclosed sum.