WANT to swim with the fishies in the Philippines?
That seems to be one of the come-ons of the Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT)-London office, which set up virtual-reality (VR) pods at the Waterloo station of the London rail network.
On PDOT-London’s Facebook page, several Londoners tried out the VR headgear and started “swimming” in the waters of the Tubbataha, getting a feel of some of the fun sights that can be visited in the Philippines.
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A number of the Londoners interviewed said the experience made them want to go to the Philippines, with one interviewee saying he would definitely make plants to visit “after Christmas”.
The PDOT is targeting a 15-percent increase in visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom this year, or about 178,000, and a 15-percent to 20-percent growth in 2017.
The VR pods project has been running since November 4, and will close on November 10. According to PDOT-London’s Facebook page, visitors to the booths can win a holiday to the Philippines “by taking paddle-boarding or sky-cycling selfie photos, and uploading these to social media or entering through our iPads. Visitors can also check out 360-degree imagery of the Philippines’s top destinations, and walk away with exciting prize giveaways. Joining the Philippines’s activation zone will be Philippine Airlines [PAL] promoting their special fares to the country.”
The Waterloo station is the busiest terminal of the famous London Underground, which attracts a daily foot traffic of about 275,000, according to a recent survey by the UK Department of Transportation.
In the last few months, PDOT-London has been undertaking a series of interactive travel shows and projects in the run-up to the WTM. Just on August 27 and 28, it held a Philippine Tourism Weekend at Potters Field by the River Thames, which showcased different Philippine destinations and activities. (See “PHL still ‘good value’ for British tourists,” in the BusinessMirror, August 31, 2016.)
Then from September 9 to October 13, it pushed the “Filipino Burger,” which was created in cooperation with Chef Richard H. Turner at his Hawksmoor Seven Dials restaurant and Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar. Hawksmoor is one of the most popular steak restaurants in London, with Turner dubbed by local publications as the “king of London carnivores.”
According to PDOT-London, Turner’s Filipino Burger features a grilled pork patty with melted buffalo mozzarella and a sweet-and-spicy banana ketchup. It is topped off with the chef’s take on the adobo, all piled inside a brioche bun and served alongside pork chicharon with a coconut dipping vinegar.
Prior to creating the Filipino Burger, Turner came to the Philippines and visited Farmer’s Market in Cubao, Salcedo Market in Makati, Chinatown in Binondo and Tagaytay City to immerse himself in the unique tastes and culture of the Philippines.
Boosted by direct flights between London and Manila via PAL, PDOT-London’s year-round marketing campaign has increased visitor arrivals from the UK. In 2015 some 155,000 visitors from the UK arrived in the Philippines, up 15.7 percent from 2014. From January to August 2016, visitors from the UK grew by almost 13.5 percent to 117,535.