8:48 PM
ENGLRES Research Paper: Tourism in Mass Media
For 14 weeks, together with my partner in crime, Czarina Gueco, we came up with this research paper! The results of sleepless nights and being early in school to finish the annotated bibliography, looking for sources- reliable and credible sources, etc. paved the way for a __ grade! We proposed that the government should make the most out of Mass Media to promote tourism in country. When we were making this paper, we realized we should not be Mass Media majors but Tourism majors! HAHAHA! Btw, thanks to the song - “Piliin Mo ang Pilipinas” for it energized us while we were doing this paper!
If you’re lazy to read the whole paper, here’s the abstract of our paper!
The Philippines, an archipelago consisting of 7,107 island and islets, is located in the heart of Asia which is an ideal place for tourism. Through the years, mass media has been evolving through the different aspects of the society such as entertainment, economy and the like. This paper advocates the use of mass media in upholding and promoting the tourism in the country. The forms of mass media such as internet, film and television are helpful in attracting tourists to come and experience the “undiscovered treasures and hidden gems” of the Philippines. With tourism as our country’s centerpiece, it plays a vital and important role in the socio-economic and cultural growth for it increases the local and national income, creates thousands of jobs, and attracts local and foreign investors to invest in the country.
So here’s our research paper! Have time to read this and you’ll agree with us after!
The Philippines, popularly called the “Pearl of the Orient Seas”, is indeed one of the premier destinations in Asia which consists of 7,107 islands and islets. It is an ideal place for business and tourism which can be reached by sea and air. There is so much to see in the Philippines – the lively white sand beaches, the spectacular underwater rivers, the lofty mountains, the vibrant culture, the one-of-a-kind traditions and the ever-welcoming and friendly Filipinos. 2,887,715 tourists discovered the country’s “undiscovered treasures and hidden gems” during the first nine months of 2011 with a 12.02% increase over the past year’s 2,577,775 tourists (“Visitor arrivals reached,” 2011).
Natural, historical, cultural, man-made and other special interest tourist attractions form part of the tourism industry in the Philippines. There are countless natural tourist attractions that spread over the entire archipelago of the Philippines from the widely dubbed as the “Eight Wonder of the World”, Banaue Rice Terraces, to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tubbataha Reef. From the 15th Century to present, our country experienced different historical events like the Spanish and American Colonization and the Martial Law era. These historical events were made into historical attractions such as buildings, monuments, and relics from our past. Since the Philippines experienced different historical events, our cultural attractions vary from place to place. This includes rituals, songs, dances, costumes, arts and crafts, stories, talents and the like which made our culture colorful and unique. Man-made tourist attractions are basically made by humans which include parks, buildings, theme parks, and other great sites. The last kind of tourist attractions in the country is the special interest which caters to tourists who have specific purposes in visiting a destination like surfing in the waves of Batanes (Libosada, 2003). These tourist attractions can be promoted and advertised through the kinds of Mass Media - internet, films, and television as these will be helpful in the promotion of tourism in our country.
This paper aims to present the proposition that the Philippine government should make the most out of mass media to promote tourism through internet, films, and television.
With the nature of tourism and mass media, mass media can help promote and advertise tourism to uphold the tourist attractions in our country which will result in the country’s economic growth. Senate Bill 1725 or the so-called Tourism Bill of 2004, as proposed by Senator Richard Gordon, which banks and brags that Philippines is rich in historical, cultural, and natural aspects, aims to make the tourism the pride and centerpiece of the country’s economy as a gateway to the socio-economic and cultural growth (Claravall, 2008). In a developing country like the Philippines, tourism plays an important and vital role in the economic growth of the country. According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts Heritage Ambassador, Herminio “Ogie” Alcasid Jr., the Filipino’s culture, heritage and the Filipinos themselves make the Philippines different from other countries that is why he said with conviction to the Philippine Travel Agencies Association that they should give focus to those characteristics which we can consider as our country’s edge over other countries (Ho, 2011). Principles of Tourism (2000) states that there are three positive effects that tourism can play in the growth of our economy. First, it increases the income of the country. Tourism both generates and redistributes income which is from the economic activities of the people through buying and selling of goods and services to tourists like local foods and drinks, cultural events and shops. Second, it creates employment. Tourism is considered as the world’s largest industry which creates millions of jobs across the national and international economies (Alampay, 2005). In an interview by Jimenez (2011), Department of Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez clearly states that the number of tourist arrivals in the country is not important; the number of Filipinos who have found gainful, productive and even lucrative employment and business because of tourism is what matters most. It offers more employment opportunities than any other sector of the economy which limits the migration of the local population (Jimenez, 2011). Lastly, it ventures for the development of the country which attracts investors. The local and international companies can invest in the country to set up their own companies which will make the tourist attractions more appealing to the tourists. To make the investors commit to this national endeavor, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, together with the Department of Tourism, promulgated the Presidential Decree 92 or the Tourism Priorities Plan which continues to serve as a guide for the tourism-related investors (Travel & leisure Philippines, 1978). The tourism activities are encouraged and given priority to supply the needs and wants of foreign tourists and travelers.
Along with the positive economic effects of tourism, mass media plays a vital role in our society. Mass Media is one of the sources of information. Through the years, mass media has always been there for the society with never ending communication and public service. Mass media has grown exponentially through the advancement of technology (Mujtaba, 2011). First, there was the existence of telegraph, and then newspaper, radio, television and after a few decades, now we have the internet and the other forms of new media. Mass media brings a general circulation about life in the world today. It influences many aspects of life such as social, political and economic fields. Through the influences of mass media, it fulfills its function as a provider of news and information, and a bridge between the society and the media world. In the present era of globalization, information and communication are the two things in which majority of the people in the society depend so much on consistently being connected with the world and with other activities such as entertainment, education, socialization, medicine and travel (Mujtaba, 2011). What makes mass media a provider of news and information is that it informs the people in the society about the interesting facts and events, the latest news from all over the world and the happenings in the isolated corner of the world can reach through the people in just minutes. The nature of mass media in giving information and communication to the society leads to sustainable and equitable opportunities for growth and progress (“The media and the information society,” 2004). Mass media, as a bridge between the society and the media world, made both worlds intact. Through information, it made the society pull closer to media. The power of mass media contributes transformation in different aspects of life of the society. It has a great influence in the society to transform cultural and social values and it brings closeness to man and media – social control (Oak, 2011). For instance, people find employment through televisions, radios and newspapers, and through the use of media, people find out the latest trends in fashion, gadgets, travel and a lot more. What makes people in the society and the media world linked is through advertisements. In our present generation, most businesses are in partnership with media advertising because it helps them make their business more visible to people. The competence in the business today is how it reaches to costumers effortlessly. With the progress of today’s technology, mass media found to extend its use not just in the line of news and information but in a different approach of linking people’s lives. Media has influenced and transformed the way of thinking of the people throughout the years. Media has contributed a lot of changes in the world and what the society has right now. Media made man and media’s world so close that it made man see that today’s world is a better place to live in.
There are several types of mass media that can help promote tourism in the Philippines. First is through the use of the internet. In our world today, most of the people are engaged in the internet mainly in social networking sites. The foreign tourists who visit the country rely on the things they read and see in the internet. The Department of Tourism Secretary, Ramon R. Jimenez Jr. (2011) said that “…Talk, talk, talk about your country. Share your pictures, your images…”. Most of the Social Networking Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Picasa have a web-based photo sharing feature which allows internet users to share their captured photos and images across the internet which will be viewable by millions of people who access the internet in just a click. The more beautiful and stunning images, the more future tourists will be excited to visit the sites they see. YouTube is a video-sharing website which provides an opportunity to the internet users and future tourists to see the real product and it is a place to get testimonials from previous visitors. These videos show the different aspects of tourism operations like the different kinds of tourist attractions one visited. For example, the tourists who visited and experienced the unique underwater world of the Tubbataha Reef will be recording a video and will upload it in a video-sharing site like YouTube and Vimeo and this will persuade other people to see and feel the “real” beauty the site has. Pictures and videos are visual representation of the historical, cultural, and natural sites of the Philippines which increases its visibility among the tourists abroad. Through the use of the features of the social networking sites like the fan page of Facebook, the hash tag search of Twitter and the like will make the fans and followers knowledgeable ofthe things that are posted in these sites. These sites will help the future tourists to be informed and will act as the people’s sharing tools to what our country can offer. During the Advertising Congress, the Department of Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez (2011) stressed that just like the case of the picture book story on Facebook, Come Visit My Philippines, which has almost 27,000 likes which means 27,000 people are tourist agents of our country.
People are also engaged in visiting websites. Although using websites are new in the scene of advertising, it is one of the powerful ways to communicate to the people directly. ABS-CBN Regional Network Group came up with a travel website named Choose Philippines. It was launched last April 15, 2011 which is touted as the first geo-social networking website on travel, places, events, food, and people of the Philippines. The sources of the information, pictures, and videos that are posted in the site are from the ABS-CBN RNG, 32 bureaus in the country and mostly from the Filipino internet users inside and outside the country. Jerry Bernett, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group Head, states that the primary reason of making Choose Philippines is because everyone, Filipinos and non-Filipinos, should experience the beauty of our country (Galarpe, 2011). Through these social networking sites and websites, the Filipinos and tourists can share their experience, stories, adventures, misadventures, photos, videos, comments and suggestions about the Philippines which will be helpful in promoting and advertising the tourism sector in our country.
Second, film is a form of mass media that involves images in motion. It is the origin of popular entertainment because it is considered as a powerful and influential method of educating and advertising. In the industry of tourism, there has been outburst phenomenon that tourists visit destinations featured through films. The communicating power through film has presented a huge potential (Mundo, n.d.). The use of the film-induced tourism has been suggested. This is a new form of cultural tourism, which receives attention from both academic and practitioners to give the audience a knowledge and understanding about the benefits of film on tourism. Through consistent research, it has been advocated that films can be an avenue to have a strong and powerful influence when it comes to tourist decision-making and an enduring prosperity and profit to the destination (Rewtrakunphaiboo, 2009). Based on statistics, the Philippines is ranked 18 in producing a tally of 53 films a year beating Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore on the 19th, 26th, 30th and 47th spot with only 40 movies and below produced every year (“Media statistics,” 2003). The Philippines is indeed blessed with beautiful and natural wonder places such as banaue rice terraces, tubataha reef, the ever-visited boracay, the lovely chocolate hills and such. That is why there is no wonder why foreign film-makers often visit our country to shoot their films with these wonderful and beautiful places. In fact, according to Philippine International Film and Television Office (PIFTO), there are a lot of foreign films were shot in the Philippines such as Born on the Fourth of July, Thirteen Days and many more (“Hollywood movies filmed,” n.d.). There is no doubt that the Philippine movie industry has a great potential to go international and promote Philippines’ tourism. Filipino movies in the Philippines can now be considered as award-winning masterpieces and are well acknowledged locally and internationally for its outstanding overall production and best performances by the chosen Filipino actors (Philippine Travel Guide, 2007). There are numerous Filipino films which have competed and harvested countless awards not only locally but also internationally such as Serbis by Brilliante Mendoza, Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros by Auraeus Solito, and a lot more. Together with film and tourism, the Philippine film industry can help advertise and promote the beauty of the Philippines from the hospitable Filipinos to the wonders of nature of the country. The country’s movie industry has four destination attributes these are scenery, sets, icons, awareness, backdrop, and brand. These attributes can help uplift the tourism of the Philippines. Tourists today are more experienced for they crave and look for new adventures, new experiences and new hot destinations. The tourism industry today is very competitive when it comes to attracting the tourists with different destinations (Rewtrakunphaiboo, 2009). Through movies, tourists can find new places wherein they wish to explore for adventure. Promoting tourism in media will help increase the country’s economic status, market shares and provide jobs and employment (O’Connor, 2010).
The Philippine film has two main forms. One is the main-stream films which is also called commercial film. This is widely released in different theaters in the country. It is run by companies, distributer and high paying producers. Main-stream can help advertise and endorse the Philippine tourism more because it has the capacity and features such as high quality of capturing sceneries, best quality of equipment in film-making and has the budget to hire the best artists that can help a main-stream movie sell. Being sold at popular venues, main-stream films can be watched in other countries. The second kind is the indie film or independent film which is produced by small movie studios or own-produced movies. This type of movie is usually run at a short span of time; it is also called short film. Indie films are low-budget films that are not able to afford high quality equipment unlike the main-stream. But what makes the indie film unique is that it can tackle different issues in society that cannot be filmed in the main-stream. Independent films are also recognized in other countries. In fact, there are a lot of prestigious film festivals that Philippine movies join such as Cannes festival, Sundance film festival, and Edinburgh International Film Festival. Dr. Walaiporn Rewtrakunphaiboo (2011) stressed that with the use of these two kinds of films, advocating and uplifting the industry of tourism is present. These forms are film-induced tourism as a part of a holiday, film-induced as a main purpose out of interest, film-induced tourism icon as a focal points of visit, film-induced tourism to take places where filming is only believed to have taken place, film-induced tourism as part of romantic gaze and film-induced tourism of escape. With these said forms, tourists will have the interest to visit or book their holiday vacation in the destination of the film that they have watched and as they indulge their stay with the destination they will be attached with the place and they will share it with their friends - this is the process of tourists’ circulation. Through both kinds of films, main-stream and independent films feature different destinations and sceneries in the Philippines to endorse the Philippine tourism that will be a big help for the country to promote the beauty of the Philippines.
The next kind of mass media that will be helpful in promoting tourism is through the use of the moving images that can be monochrome and colored, the television. October 23, 1953 marked the first-ever official telecast in the Philippines. Before the academic experiments of the students of University of Santo Tomas and FEATI Institute of Technology, the American engineer and the “Father of Philippine Television”, James Ludenberg, assembled the transmitter and established the Bolinao Electronics Corporation (BEC) on June 13, 1946 (Anastacio & Badiola, 2000). Television has been with the society for almost 60 years now. By standard, television in the media industry is long enough to grow a momentous mass medium. All the way from 1953 to present, from black and white to color, the different TV stations occurred, had been shot down, and revitalized. In the Philippines, television, being the most popular mass medium has been accepted by the Filipino audience wholeheartedly, by being a Kapamilya, Kapuso or a Kapatid. The major television networks in the Philippines include ABS-CBN, GMA and TV5. These networks produce world class artists, talents and shows that will be helpful in promoting and attracting tourists in the Philippines.
Philippine television networks produce and develop world-class artists. Filipinos are known for our talents in performing arts. The Philippines is truly a home of world-class artists like the world-renowned artists Lea Salonga, Cecile Licad, Charice, Freddie Aguilar, Regine Velasquez, Bruno Mars, Alan Pineda of Black Eyed Peas and the like. World-class artists should be watched and experienced by the tourists who visit our country through cultural shows, concerts, and musical plays (Wong, 2011). Television networks like ABS-CBN have a studio tour wherein the tourists have a chance to tour and see the state-of-the art studios of the network and watch a show like ASAP, a variety show, wherein it showcases the brightest and the most talented artists the country has. This is also a way of the networks to bring the celebrities closer to the tourists (“ABS-CBN global TFC,” 2007). The country’s prestigious colleges and universities are also a home to exceptional performing groups that have been recognized locally and internationally for their eminence and supremacy in the field of performing arts: the University of the Philippines’ Dulaang UP, and UP Pep Squad; Ateneo de Manila University’s Ateneo College Glee Club; UST Chorale and the Salinggawi Dance Troupe of the University of Santo Tomas (Top 10 things, 2011). The shows performed by these talented, world-class and world-renowned artists should be integrated to the tour packages. For example, a part of their trip in Manila will have the tourists watch a musical play starred by the Filipino artists (Wong, 2011). With the colorful and vibrant festivals celebrated throughout the year from Panagbenga Festival of Baguio, Pahiyas Festival of Quezon Province, Higantes Festival of Rizal to the unique and one-of-a-kind Maleldo Lenten Rites in Pampanga and Obando Fertility Rites in Bulacan, the local artists and talents can be used to form different kinds of performances to entice the tourists to come, watch and experience the rich religion and colorful culture of our country (Wong, 2011).
The major television networks produce shows wherein these showcase the talents of the Filipinos inside and outside the country: Pilipinas Got Talent and Showtime for ABS-CBN, Protégé: The Battle For The Big Break for GMA, and Talentadong Pinoy for TV5. El Gamma Penumbra, a Pilipinas Got Talent Season 3 Grand Finalist, performed a shadow play with an aim of promoting the vibrant culture of the Filipinos. During their audition, they used “Tara Na, Biyahe Tayo” for their music wherein they showed different cultures and traditions of the Filipinos including the taho vendor, the use of public transportation like the tricycle and chariot, the traditional way of plowing the farm land, dancing the famous folk dance, tinikling and the like. During the 2011 World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA), the Filipino talents bagged 18 awards from the said competition. Since 2005 to present, the Philippines has been winning in the WCOPA’s Grand Champion Performers of the World. Some of them are Jed Madela, Aria Daniella H. Clemente, Catherine Loria, Rhap Salazar, Rose Marielle Mamaclay, Joshua Pineda who have been included in the Hall of Fame (“Hall of fame,” n.d.). This only goes to show that the Filipinos really have an exemplar and world-class talent which will be helpful in promoting and attracting tourism in our country.
Another way in which television can help is through the use of the network’s shows. These shows introduce the Philippines’ cultures and traditions to its viewers inside and outside the country. Just like the ABS-CBN drama series which continues to captivate the hearts of the viewers worldwide. ABS-CBN’s Tayong Dalawa, Dahil May Isang Ikaw and Lobo are being aired in several Asian and African countries like Singapore and Malaysia. Pangako Sa’yo, a drama series of Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa, also captured the hearts of the 1.3 billion Chinese for it rated second over all local and foreign programs airing in China (“ABS-CBN drama series,”). It was also aired in other countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Africa. Reena De Guzman Garingan, ABS-CBN International Sales and Distribution Head, stress that “In business conferences abroad, I always tell foreign clients [that the] Philippines was under Spanish rule for 300 years. From them we got our religion, Christianity, which had become the basis of our lives. This makes us unique from the rest of Asia”; that’s why ABS-CBN drama series are a big hit among non-Filipino viewers (“ABS-CBN drama series,”). Seeing those attractive places in the drama series of the television networks makes the future tourists knowledgeable with the country’s tourist attractions, culture and traditions which make them more excited to visit the Philippines.
Jawaharal Nehru (2011), an Indian statesman and the first Prime Minister of India, quoted that “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” This quote states that every destination in the world has its own beauty and magnificence. The only thing which will make people see the beauty and magnificence of the tourist spots is to open their eyes which will allow them to witness and feel the real essence of our world. What our country needs now, is a hand-in-hand participation of all Filipinos in this national endeavor which is tourism. We, Filipinos, should commit ourselves to love and share the beauty of our country to the world through the forms of mass media - internet, movies, and television. With tourism as our country’s centerpiece, it plays a vital and important role in the socio-economic and cultural growth for it increases the national and local income, creates thousands of jobs, and attracts local and foreign investors to devote both their time and money in our country.
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CHOOSE YOUR PHILIPPINES!
CHOOSE OUR PHILIPPINES!
