Second, voluntary participation by local residents is essential. Community people are the major elements of a festival. Without their commitment to the festival, the festival can't be successful. Elements such as clean streets, clean public facilities, hospitality, high public morality are the major pulling factors to the festival. However, those are not obtainable without local assistance. To encourage public envolvement, the planning process should be open. During the planning process, there should be opportunity for drafts to be reviewed by both planners and community people.
Third, the dates of the festival are very important. They need to be determined as early as possible. If possible, the dates need to be fixed permanently, so the festivals can be included in regular tourism packages at travel agencies. If it is not realistic to fix the dates of the festival for some reason, the dates need to be determined at least 6 months prior to the festival. Besides the traditional dates of the festival, other factors need to be considered in determining the dates. In order to maximize community involvement, the busy seasons for major industries should be avoided. In order to enhance the utilization of tourism facilities, festivals need to be held during the off seasons if possible.
Fourth, it's worth noting that festivals are for visitors and community people alike. It's not just for the organizing committee or local governments. Because of that, ceremonies for mere form's sake need to be avoided as much as possible. The interpretation service regarding local culture should be made user-friendly for visitors. Time consuming official ceremonies and complicated interpretation using special jargon are regarded by many as boring today. When the heads of local governments are trying to utilize the festivals to show off their accomplishments during their term of office, the festivals can't perform their function appropriately.
Fifth, evaluations of the festival are a fundamental way to improve the festival. Sometimes festival organizers are reluctant to spend money for research. However, the research funds are only a small portion of the total budget, while the resulting benefits from the research is substantial. Evaluations should be done objectively and systematically. To evaluate the festivals from visitors' perspective, visitors survey needs to be performed annually. Through the analysis of visitor surveys, major factors which contribute to visitor satisfaction can be identified. Those factors identified would greatly contribute to the improvement of festivals for the coming years. The festival's economic impact on the community also has to be measured. This analysis helps festival organizers to understand the major contributions of the festival to the revitalization of the local economy. The quantitative measures regarding the festival's impact also would help draw community involvement and active private sector participati on to the festivals.
The Promotional and Marketing Strategies: the Philippine Department of Tourism
Cynthia C. Lazo
Director, Bureau of Domestic Tourism Promotion (BDTP)
Philippine Department of Tourism, Philippines
Greetings! Mabuhay!
Minasan Konichiwa.
I am very honored and privileged to be one of the Guest Speakers at this Symposium. My topic for today focuses on optimizing domestic tourism development and promotion in order to market the Philippines to the world. The wealth of resources left untapped, especially the people and their lifestyles, are harnessed to become the drawing cards for international promotions, which aim to also get a big chunk of the Japanese market.
Before I go into the heart of my topic, however, please allow me to give you an overview of the Philippines, its people and its tourism potential and growth over the past five years. The Philippines is an archipelago blessed with a wealth of natural resources, a rich history, and unique culture. It boasts 7,107 sparkling and unspoiled islands. Its attractions are as numerous as they are diverse, with each island offering something special even to the most discerning visitor.
The country is most popular for its beaches and deep waters teeming with a plethora of marine life. Boracay, one of the islands in the Central Philippines, was recently voted by a London-based magazine as one of the world's best beaches. The Philippine waters have attracted a growing number of scuba divers all eager to discover the underwater treasures of the country. Golfers have also found their place here in the Philippines. The country boasts challenging golf courses, some of which were designed by world class course architects such as Robert Trent Jones and Gary Player. Whatever your interest, our islands have it!
The Filipinos are divided geographically and culturally into regions, and each regional group is recognizable by distinct traits and dialects like the sturdy and frugal Ilocanos of the north, the industrious Tagalogs of the central plains, the carefree Visayans from the central islands and the colorful tribesmen and religious Moslems of Mindanao. Tribal communities can be found scattered across the archipelago.
Filipinos are a mixture of Malay, Chinese, American, Spanish and Arab ancestry. They are quite different from the people of neighboring countries in terms of temper and spirit. Through the years, the Filipino people have adapted to the winds of change brought on by commerce, conquest and colonization.
Nothing remains too foreign for long in this island culture that has assimilated change for centuries.
Regarding tourism, the Philippines has every reason to take pride in its accomplishments-we have produced an outstanding achiever in the tourism industry in the person of
