DoT urges Americans to visit sunny PHL

The Department of Tourism (DoT) is enticing Americans in major East Coast cities to make a tropical getaway to the Philippines, placing ads in tour buses with photos of the top destinations as the subfreezing temperatures and arctic blasts affect large parts of the United States.

 

Double decker hop-on-hop-off tour buses wrapped with photographs of popular tourist destinations in the Philippines such as Bohol, Boracay, and Camarines Sur could be seen moving around Washington, DC, New York, Philadelphia and Miami in the past couple of weeks, according to a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

 

The Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC said the ads are part of the “Visit the Philippines Year” campaign of the Tourism Department. 

 

“This harsh weather presents the perfect opportunity for Americans to travel to the Philippines and experience the beauty and warmth the country has to offer,” Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia Jr. said.

 

“Our American friends will also find it easier to head off to Manila when Philippine Airlines starts its regular flights from New York in March,” he added.

 

Ambassador Cuisia said the bus wraps that showcase warm Philippine beaches will definitely catch the attention of Americans who are experiencing one of the coldest winters in recent history.

 

Josh Levee, General Manager of City Sights, the bus tour company carrying the Philippine tourism ads, agreed saying: “In this weather, it is definitely enticing."

 

Vector Media’s Jordan Perlmutter said tens of thousands of people see the Philippine tourism ads wrapped around City Sights double-decker buses in New York’s Times Square, Washington’s Jefferson Memorial, Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, and Miami’s South Beach, among others.

 

“Double-decker bus wraps are iconic media forms and are the largest ads roaming the country,” Perlmutter said.

 

Vector Media undertook the tourism promotion campaign in cooperation with 360i, a New York-based advertising company. – Danessa O. Rivera/VS, GMA News