The Department of Tourism (DOT) recently launched the Bisita, Be My Guest program on the sidelines of the World Travel Market (WTM) London 2023 in the United Kingdom.
In a hall filled with the warmth of the Filipino community from London and the United Kingdom, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco extended her heartfelt gratitude to the hundreds of overseas Filipinos and Filipino workers, officials, and private sector stakeholders in attendance at the special event to celebrate the Philippines.
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺. 𝘛𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘸𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢, 𝘉𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦,” Frasco said.
The tourism chief bared the good news that under the Marcos administration, the Philippines is experiencing a robust tourism recovery, receiving nearly 4.5 million international visitors as of November 6, which is over 93% of the 4.8 million target for the year.
Recognizing the vital role of the vast diaspora of overseas Filipinos and overseas Filipino Workers hold in bannering the distinct Filipino warmth and hospitality all over the world, the tourism head expressed optimism in bringing post-pandemic tourism recovery as she extended an invitation for the attendees to help boost the country’s tourist arrivals by way of becoming “tourism ambassadors” under the Bisita, Be My Guest Program.
“𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 200,000 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥-𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢, 𝘉𝘦 𝘔𝘺 𝘎𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮, 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴,” she stressed.
Introduced last year by the DOT, together with its tourism promotions arm, the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, in partnership with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), the Bisita, Be My Guest is an innovative online referral program aimed at boosting the Philippine economy by enjoining overseas Filipinos to become “sponsors” to their foreign friends and guests to visit the country, and incentivizing both sponsors and invitees with chances to earn raffle tickets to win special prizes.
The DOT has successfully launched the Bisita, Be My Guest in other key cities abroad including Tokyo in Japan, Berlin in Germany, and Los Angeles and San Francisco, USA.
