Both catchy slogans were coined by the world-famous BBDO Guerrero Proximity Philippines advertising agency to answer the inquiry “Why the Philippines?”

The country hopes to attract 12 million foreign travelers/visitors to come to the Philippines up to the year 2016 when President Benigno S. Aquino III leaves Malacanang.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said the new brand campaign was presented to the President and some members of his Cabinet some three weeks ago.

He said President Aquino was appreciative of it.

Jimenez added that he requested more funds from the President to boost DOT’s only P2 billion budget.

“We at DOT need some more funds to push the brand campaign. And we also need help from the social media; all forms of media to participate and make it a success. If tourism creates thousands of jobs, then we can even expect our children to be working in the hospitality industry in the coming years,” he said.

The two slogans were launched Friday by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to boost the number of foreign and local tourists/visitors in the Philippines this year.

Jimenez said that everybody should participate in spreading the brand campaign since it for the country’s economic growth, especially since there is worldwide economic slowdown.

The Tourism secretary happily cut short his speech to announce to media that “It’s more fun in the Philippines” is already trending worldwide on Twitter media minutes after the slogan was unveiled.

Jimenez also announced that the Philippines will stay competitive by offering extended visas.

“Starting this year, there will be no more 21-day visas and if competitions offer 30-day visas, that’s what we’ll offer and give on arrival starting April 2012.”

Jimenez emphasized that what makes it more fun in the Philippines is the Filipino’s special gift for transforming a beautiful place into an unforgettable special place.

‘You take two identical islands, put Filipinos in one and it’s going to be more fun there. It’s the truth, we are more fun as a people.”

He took cognizance of the fact that Filipinos, no matter the circumstances they’re in, they are always smiling, hospitable and most of all, a caring people which endears them to foreigners.

“We are the most caring people on earth, that is why we are favorites in the medical and nursing professions abroad,” he said.

He talked of “It’s more fun in the Philippines” as encouraging Filipinos to make it their own campaign by playing around with it in their heads.

“Think of what a tourist wants to do like hiking, scuba diving and perhaps, planking. Definitely, it’s more fun in the Philippines, whatever is the activity a tourist wants to undertake.”

Jimenez cited an example like next year, DOT hopes to buy space over a parking lot in New York City with a billboard that shows bancas lined up along the beach of Puerto Galera with the people laughing. Their bancas have funny names like ‘Tom Cruises’ and the headline says, “Parking. It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

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This is one of the reasons why impartial review sites are becoming so popular these days and the power of the web is really giving power back to consumers when it comes to them choosing their holidays.

If you get a chance, then try and make sure you visit Holiday Extras as they are an independent travel service company that not only give great advice about all of the necessary extras that you need to make your holiday go smoothly but they also have links to many companies who will be able to give you great value for money along with great customer service.

Holiday Extras know the importance of feeling as though you have got the best value possible for your hard earned cash and this is one of the reasons why they launched the Holiday Extra Customer Awards three years ago. The awards are voted for by their customers alone, which is great as it means the winners are chosen as a result of an honest and unbiased voting system (no industry fat cats involved!).

This year over 66,000 of the customers of Holiday Extras cast their vote for the companies who they thought were performing at their best in the travel industry at the moment. This is almost triple the number of people who voted in last year’s awards- so they are certainly starting to grow in popularity.

Here is the list of this year’s winners:

- Best Airline: Emirates
- Best Airline Cabin Crew: Emirates
- Best Airline for Value for Money : easyJet
- Best Airport: Belfast International
- Best Airport Car Park: Edinburgh Park and Fly
-Best Airport Hotel: Gatwick Sofitel
- Best Airport Hotel Restaurant: Manchester Premier Inn
- Best Airport Lounge: Edinburgh Servisair
- Best Airport Hotel for families: Manchester Premier Inn
-Best Airline for Travelling with Babies: Virgin Atlantic
- Best Airline for Travellers with a Disability: Virgin Atlantic
- Most Inspirational Travel Film: Shirley Valentine
- Best Travel Guide Publisher: Lonely Planet

Those who voted were treated to being entered into a prize draw from Holiday Extras. The winner got a great prize – they received an overnight stay in one of the UK’s airport hotels with dinner included before their flight, two weeks’ worth of airport parking and use of the airport lounge before they flew off to have fun in the sun!

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Vicky Ramos-Antonino, chair of the tourism council, said she is now visiting different provinces in the region to assess the tourism strength and weaknesses in the different areas.

“We are eyeing Aklan to be the center of tourism, Iloilo and Negros Occidental provinces will highlight cultural heritage, Antique and Guimaras provinces for eco-tourism and Capiz will cater for culinary experience as the seafood capital of the country,” Antonino said.

The plan for a unified tourism zone is expected to boost the planned revival of the Panay Railway System and the open sky policy for both the Kalibo International Airport and the Iloilo Airport.

“We are doing this unified tourism zone so that provinces in the region will not be competing with each other but instead complement one another,” she added.

Once the unified tourism zone is in place, the tourism council will then be drafting tour packages to encourage tourists to explore other tourism potentials in the region.

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“In spite of its solemnity, Lent and its peak of Holy Week are special occasions for Filipinos to pray, bond with loved ones and visitors as well as relax from the daily grind. The week-long religious observance is also a time to meld with our diverse cultural heritage by participating in different Lenten activities in our hometowns and then escaping to our summer getaways,” says Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim.

The miraculous image of Jesus the Black Nazarene at the Basilica Minore in Quiapo, Manila leads the Philippine Christendom during Holy Week as it will be brought out of its shrine for a procession in the district on Good Friday. This is one of only two times in a year – the other event is during its January 9 feastday – when the life-size mahogany-colored image is taken out of the church for a grand but solemn procession participated in by hundreds of thousands of devotees. The more than four-centuries-old image of Jesus Christ depicted under the weight of the Holy Cross was brought to Manila on board a galleon from Acapulco, Mexico.

While the observance of Lent is nationwide, the commemoration of the passion and death of Christ popularly known as the Senakulo is specially staged at the plaza in Malibay, Pasay City and in Barangay San Dionisio in Parañaque City in Metro Manila.

The provinces in the Southern Tagalog region have many traditional events during Holy Week. Unique lenten commemoration in towns and cities can be experienced during the Penetensiyahan in Rosario and Pabasa ng Pasyon in San Juan both towns in Batangas; the Cenaculo in Cainta, the Giwang-Giwang and the Salubong in the “Artists’ Village” town of Angono all in Rizal province.

The Turumba Festival in the town of Pakil in Laguna has the largest religious activities which begin on the Friday before Palm Sunday and every nine days thereafter. Then, the feast proceeds to the nine days in May and June until it ends on Pentecost Sunday in September amidst local pageantry. These seven fiestas or lupi venerate the seven sorrows of Our Lady of Turumba through native music during a sober dancing procession among the townsfolk.

The island-province of Marinduque’s colorful Moriones festival is depicted by players masked as soldiers and garbed in biblical Roman costumes performing around the picturesque towns of Boac, Gasan and Mogpog. It culminates with the beheading of Longinus, the centurion who pierced the side of the crucified Jesus. The street festival converts these towns as virtual stages with the story of Longinus unfolding before the local people and visitors.

On Maunday Thursday and Good Friday, a group of men in Tanay and Taytay in Rizal province gather, feast and meditate overnight around the parish church to await the statue of Santo Entierro (wooden image of the dead Christ) for the Subok Festival. Different objects like handkerchiefs, bronze medals, small pieces of paper inscribed with Latin phrases are inserted into the robe, under the feet and in the hands of the dead Christ. During the procession of the Santo Entierro, these men link hands and encircle the blessed image. The objects are then retrieved after the procession and considered as talisman, which the men test among themselves for effectiveness using different deadly weapons.

Pampanga is world famous for the religious flagellants who continuously whip their bare backs as a sign of penitence for their sins while parading the streets of the City of San Fernando. There are live reenactments of the crucifixion in Barangays San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando and Lourdes Northwest in Angeles City. In the towns of Betis, Guagua, Bacolor, Sasmuan and Macalacat in Pampanga; Baliuag and Paombong in Bulacan; and Castillejos in Zambales, several lavishly decorated floats are part of the Prusisyon carrying the images of Mater Dolorosa (Our Lady of Sorrows) and other religious characters depicting Christ’s suffering and preceded by local singers and musicians. The pilgrims join the Penetencia at Ermita Hill in Casiguran and Baler in Aurora. Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte has the Katkat Sakripisyo.

Not every town and cities are solemn for Holy Week, however. Suroy sa Surigao turns this city and towns in the Caraga region into sightseeing and water sports destinations. Digos City in Davao del Sur mobilizes employees of different government offices in the orientation of trekkers and mountaineers to the country’s highest peak, Mt. Apo. Through their ethnic culture, indigenous people in Magpet, Cotabato celebrate the Pak’kaat Kal’lo as well as in Mt. Province and Ifugao with their Tungoh ad Hunduan, Changyasan and Gotad ad Hingyon Festivals for their bountiful harvest.

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You will now have a huge chance to enjoy the tournament since for every Php 5,300 in the prize pool of the Mega Satellite, a seat to the 500K Guaranteed RWM Satellite Series is awarded .

According to the organizers, The Poker Series Finale Mega Satellites with a buy in of Php 1,000 feature one optional re-buy and add on will be held on March 24 and 25, 2011. This tournament is as exciting as online poker tournament isnt it?  Having made its mark on Asia and various poker players around the world with more than 3 highly successful poker events in 2010, the Asian Poker Tour (APT) has announced several events for its 2011 tournament schedule.

The said Poker tour will culminate with the 1 Million Guaranteed RWM Satellite Series Finale on March 26 wherein EIGHT APT Philippines Main Event seats are included in the prize pool. In addition to the give prices, another seat to the APT Philippines Main Event is awarded for every Php 120,000 collected above the guarantee.

Filipino Poker Players can also use their RWM Points to buy in to the 500K and 1M Guaranteed events with a ratio of 1 RWM Point = Php 1. Do you want to be a Poker Star?  One of the 2009 Asian Poker Tour was won by Australian poker pro David Saab, who walked away with the USD $280,000 top prize.

The Asian Poker Tour or APT is a major poker tournament focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. It aims to promote poker by conducting poker tournaments and events in major Asia-Pacific cities such as Macau and Manila.

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