New DOT slogan out by yearend

The Department of Tourism (DOT) will be testing the waters for the country’s new tourism slogan before yearend ahead of its official launch early next year.

The DOT said the new tourism campaign was still subject to change but would reinforce the Philippines’ brand being uniquely and truly Filipino.

“We’ll be testing the waters,” Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo said in an interview yesterday. “If it doesn’t click, then probably we’ll change.

We’ll have a consultation.”

But Teo clarified that the official launching of the slogan is set either on the opening of the Miss Universe pageant or at the ASEAN Summit in 2017.

“(The official launch will be) during Miss Universe, hopefully, because by the end of the year, we already have the slogan,” she said. “So it will be out next year. Or during the ASEAN Summit, probably, because it will be in January.” The agency earlier announced that the introduction of the new slogan to replace “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” would be on Jan. 13, the same day that candidates of the Miss Universe pageant arrive in the country. Undersecretary for advocacy and public affairs Katherine de Castro said this was to ensure that the campaign would get maximum exposure, as the Miss Universe Organization would present it in all of their channels worldwide.

The new campaign, De Castro said, would be more specific in terms of the destinations and activities tourists can do in the country. She said the DOT was seeking a more effective slogan to be able to penetrate the tourism market.

According to Teo, the DOT was preparing to say goodbye to the old slogan as it exhausted all information materials related to the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” brand before yearend.