HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE: OUR NEW ABNORMAL
The other week saw me at the Lanson Place, attending the HSMA General Membership Meeting and media launch of this year’s HSMA Virtus Awards – the landmark 10th year that the awards are being held. HSMA is the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association Philippines, and it was very interesting to engage in the tourism “shop talk.” On board was Capt. Stanley Ng, president and COO of Philippine Airlines, as he was the lunch’s keynote speaker.
Interesting because assembled in the function room were the frontliners of Philippine tourism. You had representatives from the airline flying in these arrivals to our country, and from the hotels and resorts that provide accommodations to these foreign visitors. They’re also the lifeblood of what makes domestic tourism click; and help drive our tourism industry to be such a great source of employment, and an important contributor to the annual GNP.
One key takeaway from a number of the speakers that afternoon was that while being hosted by a sales and marketing coalition, the consistent refrain was how innovation and revenue were both now key to moving forward and enhancing the tourist experience – that it wasn’t just about sales and marketing. I had just arrived from a four-day stay at Fukuoka the previous night, so there was a lot I shared in terms of visitor experience – but I’ll touch on that later.
I liked this mention of innovation and revenue, as it dovetails nicely with the sustainability mantra of people, planet and profit. Too often, we treat revenue and/or profit like it’s some dirty word. And yet, the fact remains that you can have the best of intentions, the most wonderful service and amenities; but if you aren’t keeping an eye out on revenue and profit, as it’s not a bottomless pit of capital and subsidizing, the “well” will soon run dry. You’ll then be talked about as last year’s gallant enterprise, “ahead of it’s time,” or whatever cliche is brought out to describe a now defunct operation – and that’s just the painful truth.
Innovation was similarly key, because in a post-pandemic world, one cannot trot out the same formulaic offerings, or think it’s just a matter of reset. Understanding the needs and wants of a changing, younger market is crucial for surviving. And I loved how both Stanley Ng and Loleth So (president, HSMA) were echoing these same sentiments, as an exhortation to be resilient. Any entity connected with tourism needs to understand and embrace this change, customizing their response. Philippine Airlines for example, has the unusual situation where their international flights represents only 40 percent of their passenger load, but accounts for 80 percent of their revenues.
The HSMA Virtus Awards is on it’s 10th iteration, and culminates in October. It’s extra significant as it coincides with the 45th Anniversary of the HSMA Philippines. The Virtus Awards bestow on three of the nominees the honors of Outstanding Sales and Marketing Associate, Outstanding Sales and Marketing Manager, and Outstanding Sales and Marketing Leader. One group award is handed out, that of the Institutional Award for Most Outstanding Marketing Campaign of the Year. What’s important to note is how the Virtus Award is more than just a trophy to place on a shelf, it also helps pave the way for a more successful professional career. It’s recognition of excellence from your own peers and from within your chosen industry.
I mentioned above how I had just arrived from Fukuoka, Japan, apparently one of the fastest growing foreign destinations of choice for Filipinos. Tokyo and Osaka are still getting the lion’s share of Filipinos flying out to Japan, but we’ve been discovering Fukuoka as a new alternative city to visit. My visitor experience in Fukuoka (and with past trips to Japan) was wonderful, and it really contributes to how Japan will always be one of my favorite countries to visit. And it’s not just the sights, the food, or the shopping. You have all those; but it’s also the people, the culture, and the values. Why do I say this?
It was a rainy four days, and at the Mitsukoshi Fukuoka, I had left the Grand Hyatt umbrella I borrowed. I couldn’t even remember where I had left it – in the toilet, or on some shopping floor. As it began pouring, I realized my mistake, told Issa to go on to Daimaru, and headed back to Mitsukoshi and their Information desk. The woman manning the Desk hardly spoke English, but used her device to understand my concern. They called, said nothing had been retrieved, so I asked where I could purchase an umbrella. A few minutes later, passing that same desk, she called out to me to wait, as the Hyatt umbrella had been found, and was on it’s way to the Information Desk. And you could feel the pride emanating from her, in having solved my problem.
Whenever Issa or I would stop some pedestrian to confirm something, they would really go out of their way to be of help and direct us, sometimes even taking us some way in the right direction. Small things like this mean a lot, and it brings home how we all play a part in the visitor experience for arrivals to our shores. In other words, we are all frontliners as well. Let’s not forget that if we want our tourism to effectively boom.