House Committee on Tourism Chairperson and Laguna 3rd District Rep. Sol Aragones on Monday called on her colleagues in the House of Representatives to help promote tourism destinations in their respective districts to local tourists, emphasizing that domestic tourists spent over P3 trillion in 2018 in local tourist sites.
In a privilege speech, Aragones revealed that House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano had tapped her to spearhead an effort to lead House members in promoting Philippine tourist destinations via video blogs, popularly known as VLOGs.
“We will tour our countrymen around the famous sites and introduce them to the popular food in your localities.”
The third-term legislator said House members could serve as tour guides in their respective districts given their familiarity with the areas they represent.
“Maganda na ang bawat isa sa atin, lalo na tayong mga kongresista ay maging tour guide sa ating mga kanya-kanyang distrito (it would be very helpful for us representatives to act as tour guides in our respective districts),” said the former broadcast journalist, who added that the VLOGs would be named CONG-TOUR.
The VLOGs would then be uploaded to the HOR (House of Representatives)website and then promoted and shared on online social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
“Papasyalan namin kayo sa inyong mga distrito hanggang sa abot ng aming makakaya (we will visit your in your districts whenever possible),” Aragones told her fellow lawmakers.
Speaking in Filipino, Aragones explained that “we will tour our countrymen around the famous sites and introduce them to the popular food in your localities.”
“All of us should encourage our constituents to subscribe to our VLOGs, which we will share with the whole country so that all Filipinos can see them and share them with the whole world.”
According to Aragones, the first episodes of CONG-TOUR will feature the province of Laguna, specifically the 3rd and 4th districts of Laguna––her district and that of Rep. Benjamin “Benjie” Agarao Jr.
“All of us should encourage our constituents to subscribe to our VLOGs, which we will share with the whole country.”
The next episodes will feature the lone district of Biñan City (Rep. Marilyn “Len” Alonte), the lone district of Calamba City (Rep. Joaquin “Jun” Chipeco Jr.), the 1st district (Rep. Dan Fernandez), and the 2nd district (Rep. Ruth Mariano-Hernandez).
Promoting the Philippines to Filipinos makes sense, Aragones stressed, as data from Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) shows that domestic tourism expenditure amounted to 3.2 trillion pesos in 2018.
During her privilege speech, Aragones also highlighted the economic contributions of the tourism industry, which, according to PSA data, is responsible for employing 5.4 million Filipinos, or 13% of employment in the country.
Data also shows that Tourism Direct Gross Value Added (TDGVA) to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or the contribution of tourism industries to the Philippine economy, was estimated at 12.7%, a figure translates to P2.2 trillion.