BAGUIO CITY – Entries are now being accepted for the Department of Tourism’s “Bring Home a Friend” (BHAF) program which seeks to give an incentive and encourages Filipinos to help promote tourism by inviting foreign friends for “a reunion of sorts in the different turist destinations in the country.
During the launching of the 1st North Philippines Tourism Forum and Career Fair Tourism, Assistant Secretary Frederick Alegre explained that the program may be considered as a reunion of sorts to redefine Philippine tourism in a bid to sustain the increase in foreign arrivals considering that there are bright prospects for tourism in the country in the future.
Alegre said, “The success of the program would not be measured in terms of the number of foreign invitees entering the country but on its ability to ‘empower’ Filipinos to actively take part in tourism promotions.”
The contest runs from October 15, 2017 to April 15, 2018 and allows Filipinos residing here and abroad, as well as expatriates based in the Philippines, to win prizes in an electronic raffle draw for simply inviting their foreign friends to come visit the Philippines.
The Tourism Department views the program of empowering the people which is the core strength of our tourism campaign. It’s more than bringing friends and family back home, since it is a shout-out to the world to come and see the Philippines.
Prizes to be won for “sponsors” (Filipinos inviting foreign friends) include an Eastwood Le Grand Tower studio condo unit (first prize), an orange metallic Toyota Vios 2017 Model (second prize), or 200,000 pesos worth of gift certificates from Duty Free (third prize).
Meanwhile, prizes for “invitees” (foreign friends visiting the Philippines) include two roundtrip international business class tickets plus two roundtrip domestic tickets to Palawan (first prize), two roundtrip international premium economy tickets plus two roundtrip domestic tickets to Cebu (second prize), and two roundtrip international economy tickets plus two roundtrip domestic tickets to Davao (third prize).
The BHAF was first launched by former DOT Secretary Mina Gabor in 1994 for the US travel market, the Philippines’ second top source for foreign arrivals.
To join, the sponsor and invitee must duly accomplish the registration via the BHAF microsite accessible via the DOT website web.tourism.gov.ph.
By Dexter A. See
