To further support the government’s “More Fun in the Philippines” project, Choose Philippines, the country’s first-ever social and travel networking site, will launch the “i Choose” campaign, introducing a new microsite that encourages every Filipino to contribute to the 7,107 reasons why people choose thePhilippines.
At the grand launch on “ASAP 2012” this Sunday (Feb 19), the campaign’s video will be aired for the first time. It features people from across the world who have shared their different reasons why they choose thePhilippines over other tourist destinations in the world. Their thoughts are not only limited to the beautiful places but also the otheractivities that are more fun to do in thePhilippines.
By logging on and signing up to www.choosephils.com, anyone can access the social travelnet’s microsite http://choosephils.com/ichoose/ where they can participate in the campaign and state the reason why they choose thePhilippines. The post can only be a simple sentence yet accompanied by a picturesque image of any of thePhilippines’ best—that can be a place, food, service, event and even admirable Pinoy values.
According to Choose Philippines editor in chief Rhoel Fernandez, ChoosePhilippines has become so popular that people would ask if they were the Department of Tourism (DoT).
As ABS-CBN’s multimedia strength comes into play, with online, on-air and on-ground “encouragement channels,” the scope of ChoosePhilippines has sailed into new territories. It has now snowballed into a movement, with a mission “to uplift the country through tourism by creating business opportunities for the Filipino people in the countryside.”
The travel website Choose Philippines is a brainchild of ABS-CBN Regional Network Group. It started off as “Pili-Pinas,” a Web portal with a one man crew. Two years later, in February 2011, Charie Villa took it under her wing at the request of RNG head Jerry Bennett.
The stories on ChoosePhilippines are categorized under travel, food, festivals, people and products. Thanks to an enthusiastic army of contributors, whatever, wherever and whenever in thePhilippines it is, sooner or later, ChoosePhilippines will have it.
By the second half of 2011, the Choose Philippines’ Facebook likes had spiked to almost a quarter of a million on the back of the launch of the Choose Philippines music video featuring Robert Labayen’s rollicking paean, “Piliin ang Pilipinas,” on “ASAP.”
Post views on the popular social networking site had hit a whopping 151 million by November 2011, while www.choosephils.com racked up 1 million views.
“We want people to say ‘ChoosePhilippines’ because we are all Filipinos, it doesn’t matter who stands out,” Villa said. “With ChoosePhilippines, our foremost objective is to remind Filipinos what a great country they have. And if we stop fighting and get our act together, we might really become the best Asian country.”
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