DOT slogan-bearing firms boost Philippine tourism

THREE private companies -- two of which are based in Davao City -- have thrown full support to the country's tourism industry by carrying the Department of Tourism (DOT) slogan.

From airplane to taxi units to coffee cups, the DOT slogan "It's More Fun in the Philippines" will be inscribed as the country intensified its campaign to lure more tourists, especially in Davao City, which is touted as the next tourism gateway of the Philippines.

No less than Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. spearheaded the launching of the DOT slogan in the Southeast Asia Airlines (Seair) aircraft, Mabuhay black taxi units and Blugre coffee cups.

The launch coincides with the city's 27th Kadayawan Festival celebration, which attracted hundreds of foreign and local tourists.

Seair, Mabuhay Taxi and Blugre Coffee took the initiative of bearing the DOT slogan to help the department promote Davao and the country in general as a tourism haven in Asia.

On Saturday, executives of the Mabuhay Taxi officially launched its 25 Black Taxi units, each of them carrying the slogan and with photos of tourist sites of the Davao Region printed on both side doors.

Pierre Ryan Tan, assistant manager of the Mabuhay Taxi Davao, said those pictures printed on every unit are unique to one another.

He said his company was the one who proposed to the DOT-Davao headed by Arturo Boncato to carry both the tourism slogan and different pictures of the best destinations in the region.

All Black Taxi Units are equipped with point-of-sale (POS) devices or swiper and global positioning devices (GPS), which is first in the Philippines.

These taxi units became viral on the internet because of its POS devices, an additional feature that can spruce up convenience for passengers through the use of a debit card.

However, these POS devices don't accept credit card to pay up the fare, but Tan said some time in the last quarter of this year, they might as well allow the use of credit cards for the delight of the passengers.

For homegrown Blugre Coffee, Joanne Siy, vice president for operations and franchise, said putting the slogan "It's More Fun in the Philippines" in their coffee cups is part of promoting the coffee shop in the nationwide scale.

Siy said Blugre is among the most-sought after places in Davao for tourists and joining DOT in its campaign will also promote the coffee shop.

"We're also expecting an increase in revenue now that we have the slogan on our cups," she said.

On Sunday, Seair opened new flights from Davao City to Metro Manila with the tourism slogan of the country emblazoned on its fuselage.

Seair chief executive officer Patric Tan said their brand new Airbus 320 will fly twice a day. He said the frequency of flights will increase to thrice a week starting October 8. The aircraft has 186-seating capacity.

The firm also plans to acquire at least two brand new units of Airbus 320 every year for the next three years.

Jimenez earlier declared that Asia is the next tourism spot of travelers around the world and that the country must be ready for the possible influx of more visitors in a few years' time.