Under a program recently launched by the Department of Tourism (DOT), Filipinos who bring foreigners to the Philippines will get a chance to win a condominium from Megaworld, a brand new Toyota Vios, and a P200,000 gift check at Duty Free Philippines
The ‘Bring Home a Friend’ program, a revived initiative from the DOT in 1994, aims to encourage “all Filipino expats to be brand ambassadors for Philippine tourism”, a DOT statement read.
“This shall be a thrilling experience for us Filipinos, who are known for our genuine hospitality and for celebrating Christmas for the longest time,” DOT Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo said in the statement.
It also aims to reward the foreign visitor accompanying the Filipino with a chance to win round-trip international flight tickets and tour packages to Palawan, Cebu, and Davao. The program will run until April 2018.
“We would like to close the year strongly for the tourism industry in terms of visitor arrivals and carry the momentum into the coming year,” Teo said.
The Philippines recorded a steady growth of tourist influx from the Middle East. In 2016, the country received more than 83,000 foreign arrivals from the region, a 9.69 percent increase from 2015.
According to a recent study by the Department of Foreign Affairs, about 2 million Filipinos live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), about 22 percent of the overall 9.1 million Filipinos. The UAE also stood as one of the largest markets in the middle east region, with over 16,000 tourist arrivals in the Philippines last year.
DOT aims to reach 7 million tourists by year-end, and will do this by “proactively developing strategic partnerships with key stakeholders in the Middle East to capture a sizeable percentage of its high-yield tourist market,” it added in the statement.
To join the program, register on the ‘Bring Home a Friend’ webpage in DOT’s website: tourism.gov.ph, or booths set up at selected international airports nationwide.
