Bring home a friend to the Philippines

Picturesque images of the beautiful beaches of Coron, Palawan and Boracay, the majestic Chocolate Hills, tranquil scenes of Batanes and other attractive images of 7,107 islands of the Philippines projected on the big screen is a moment of pride for us.

Banderitas, lechon, sayawan, tawanan. It was a colorful and festive luncheon at Boracay Club yesterday, as the Philippine Department of Tourism launches "Bring Home a Friend" program in the Middle East.

The campaign encourages all Filipino expats in the Middle East to be brand ambassadors for Philippine tourism and encourage their family, colleagues and friends to visit the Philippines as their next holiday destination.

The event was attended by Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Constancio Vingno Jr., Consul General Paul Raymond Cortes, campaign partners such as Philippine Airlines and Megaworld, Airline and Hospitality professionals, Top Filipino executives, Travel Trade Industry partners, Influential media, bloggers and social media personalities, Filipino Community leaders from Dubai and internationally-acclaimed fashion designer to the stars and royalties Furne One AMATO.

The program will run for six months starting from October 15, 2017 up to April 15, 2018.

“We would like to close the year strongly for the tourism industry in terms of visitor arrivals and carry the momentum into the coming year.” DOT Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo

Teo decided to revive the BHAF program implemented in 1994 by DOT under former Secretary Mina Gabor to encourage Filipinos to invite their foreign friends to come and visit the Philippines.

The Filipino sponsors, who either reside in the country or overseas, stand to win an array of prizes.

“This shall be a thrilling experience for us Filipinos, who are known for our genuine hospitality and for celebrating Christmas for the longest time,” said Teo.

Major prizes awaiting the sponsors include a condominium from Megaworld Corporation, a brand new Toyota Vios, and a PHP200,000 gift certificate at Duty-Free Philippines while their foreign guests can win round-trip international flight tickets and tour packages to Palawan, Cebu, and Davao.

To join, the sponsor must duly register via the Bring Home a Friend website: www.bringhomeafriend.online. Registration may also be accomplished at BHAF booths soon to be set up at selected international airports in the Philippines.

The number of eligible entries will also depend on the points they earn corresponding to the guest’s country of origin: Asia and Oceania/Australia: 2; Africa, Middle East, Europe, and America: 3.

Conversely, the more foreign friends the sponsors invite, the more entries they can submit.

The Philippines has seen the consistent growth in tourist arrivals from the Middle East. In 2016, the Philippines received a total of 83,546 tourists from the region, growing by 9.69% over 2015. Tourist arrivals from Saudi Arabia and UAE, the two largest markets out of the region for the Philippines, reached 50,884 and 16,881 respectively.

The PDOT aims to achieve 7 million tourists by the end of 2017 and proactively developing strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in the Middle East to capture a sizeable percentage of its high-yield tourist market.

Piolo Pascual sings the theme song

I don't know about you, but with or without prizes, I would invite my friends to visit our country for their next holiday destination. From dazzling beaches and mystical mountains to terrific shopping and thrilling adventure travel, the Philippines is a big country in a small package. It’s the second largest archipelago in the world, with 7,107 islands, sixty percent of which are uninhabited and combined the total coastline measuring 58,390km.

Definitely a great campaign. Thank you DOT reps in Dubai for having us at the launch.