CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – In a bid to strengthen the foothold of Pampanga as a premier tourism destination, the provincial government is now working on a tourism brand for the whole province.
Gov. Lilia ‘Nanay’ Pineda recently signed an executive order creating the technical working group (TWG) who will work on the tourism branding that will help promote the province.
Part of the TWG members are Board Members Cherry Manalo, Anthony Joseph Torres, Ananias Canlas Jr, Olga Frances Dizon, Ferdinand Labung, Rosve Henson, and Salvador Dimson Jr, some Capitol department heads, representatives from the Departments of Tourism (DoT), Trade and Industry (DTI), and Science and Technology (DOST), and other stakeholders from the private sector. They met the other day at the Benigno Aquino Hall for a branding workshop and brainstorming for the appropriate label for the province.
Lord Francis Musni, a local historian and consultant for Heritage Museum and also a member of the TWG, said the brand should be sustainable and should focus on the unique experience that the province can offer to local and foreign tourists alike.
“We will be capitalizing on the unique experience that Pampanga has to offer, not only to Pampanga, not only to the region, to the Philippines and to the world. For the longest time, we are the oldest province since 1571 but for the longest time, we’re just a stopover, pit stop for comfort room stops, for buying pasalubong. If you get hungry along NLEX, they don’t really stay. But Pampanga has a lot to offer. In short, Pampanga will be coming out to become one of the viable places for people to enjoy the good life. We will be repackaging Pampanga as a destination for a good life,” he said.
Musni added that the central theme of the brand will give emphasis on food as Pampanga is known as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines.
“Central idea will be food because we can brag about it and we can get away with it because we know we have a very discriminating taste and this will work with food being the central theme. We would also be capitalizing on other good things that we have: efficient transport service, our synergy of roads, our connectivity to the airports and the ports and our hospitality as a people,” Musni said.
Aside from the tourism brand, the TWG is also working on the branding system for Pampanga-made products.
Board member Torres, chairman of the committee on trade, industry, and commerce, said the product branding will raise the quality and marketability of the local products.
Torres added that a team from the TWG will receive, evaluate and accredit applications for both products and producers in the province. Once accredited, the product will bear the “Quality Seal” or the registered logo of the province on their packaging.
According to Provincial Tourism Officer Arwin Lingat, the provincial tourism brand will be launched in December to coincide with the celebration of Pampanga Day. ###
LIEZEL CAYANAN
