Tourism Philippines appoints Dentsu, boosts marketing budget

The appointment follows a competitive pitch which was narrowed down in early September to Dentsu, PHD and local independent Club Media after Vizeum was disqualified on a technicality. 

The win, which was reported in TTG Asia, ties into the formal one-year appointment (starting July 1, 2012) of Domingo Ramon 'Chicoy' Enerio III as COO for the Philippines Tourism Promotions Board (TPB). 

According to TTG, Enerio's appointment sees the nation's tourism marketing and promotional duties transferred from the Department of Tourism (DoT) to TBP. DoT will retain overall macro-planning functions, guided by its National Tourism Development Plan which has been granted US$62.27 million for its 2012/2013 marketing budget — a 91 per cent year-on-year increase. 

In January, the DoT launched its first globally successful campaign in a while, spearheaded by BBDO Guerrero Proximity. The crowdsourced 'It's more fun in the Philippines' campaign drew over 40,000 submissions. These entries were turned into a TVC which ran on CNN.