Seminar on Advertising Tourism
Promotion in ARMM and Telling ARMM Stories
The Department of Tourism – ARMM
conducted its first ever Seminar on Advertising Tourism Promotion in ARMM and Telling ARMM Stories at the RPDO-ARMM
Conference Hall yesterday, February 10, 2013 from 3:00 pm to 5:30 in the
evening. The workshop was spearheaded by
the newly appointed energetic Secretary of Tourism, Hon. Jehanne U.
Mutin-Mapupuno. The successful seminar
was participated by Tourism-ARMM employees, MSU representative and information
officers from different media in the ARMM.
To help realized said seminar,
Creative Producer Lilit Reyes of Halaw (Ways of the Sea) and its Director
Sheron Dayoc, a Mindanaoan and visual artist who directed the Philippines most
traveled film in 2010 shared their craft and experience in making creative
advertisement and documentary film-making.
Short films thrillers from Sundance Festival were shown and symbol of an
egg in advertizing for interpretation is presented to the group. These two high profile and award-winning
artists in their respective fields both agreed that creating a brand for
Mindanao and ARMM in particular is a tall order but YES, it can be done, that
is if the people involve is really sincere and put their hearts in DOING
IT. Negative images according to
them could be turn into an advantage, like making a brand that would appeal to
human instinct and feelings. Like
promoting Marines in Patikul, Sulu who made a beach resort in their midst with
a package tour and inviting domestic and foreign tourists to visit the
province. Who would have thought that
government soldiers who were always pictured by outsiders fighting with the
rebels and lawless elements in Sulu actually doing the peace-building
initiative of promoting Sulu to tourist and proving to people that the area
have amazing tourist sites and only isolated parts actually have problems. It
actually falls to a brand that is simple, doable and big according to the
keynote lecturers.
Secretary Jehanne Mutin-Mapupuno
also shared her frameworks in promoting ARMM Tourism. She said that nothing is impossible if
everybody works to a certain goal. She
emphasized to the group that problems will always be present in the Autonomous
Region or even to the whole nation in general, but we have to meet it head-on
instead of avoiding these obstacle to realize our objectives. She appealed to the group to work with her
team especially the media to help the Department in mainstreaming the idea/plan
that Tourism is a measure of Peace and we need to communicate tourism to our
audience to make it successful. The “SURPRISING MINDANAO” tagline right now that DOT-ARMM
is promoting and other advertising plan is on the works to be implemented comes
Summer time. It is something to be watch
for, for everyone.
