AMERICANS in the East Coast are being urged to experience the "beauty and warmth" of popular tourist destinations in the Philippines to escape the "subfreezing temperatures and arctic blasts" there.
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the Philippine Embassy in Washington has launched an aggressive tourism campaign to promote the Philippines as a "tropical getaway."
In the past weeks, double-decker hop-on-hop-off buses seen moving around Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia and Miami have been wrapped with photographs of Bohol, Boracay and Camarines Sur.
The embassy said the campaign is part of the tourism department’s efforts to promote 2015 as “Visit the Philippines Year.”
“This harsh weather presents the perfect opportunity for Americans to travel to the Philippines and experience the beauty and warmth the country has to offer,” Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Cuisia Jr. said.
“Our American friends will also find it easier to head off to Manila when Philippine Airlines starts its regular flights from New York in March,” he added.
The bus wraps that showcase warm Philippine beaches "will definitely catch the attention of Americans who are experiencing one of the coldest winters in recent history."
Josh Levee, general manager of City Sights, the bus tour company carrying the Philippine tourism ads agrees with Cuisia, the statement said.
Vector Media’s Jordan Perlmutter said tens of thousands of people see the Philippine tourism ads wrapped around City Sights double decker buses at New York’s Times Square, Washington’s Jefferson Memorial, Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, and Miami’s South Beach, among others.
“Double decker bus wraps are iconic media forms and are the largest ads roaming the country,” Perlmutter whose company undertook the tourism promotion campaign in cooperation with 360i, a New York-based advertising company, said. (CVB/Sunnex)