“Experiential tourism” was a term that came out of the hour-and-a-half long State of the Nation Address (SoNA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last Monday.
It means, basically, that “we shall interpose the wholesome and hospitable Filipino brand in all the key tourism touch points — from tourist arrival all the way to departure,” he said.
I was a bit amazed that such a thing should even be discussed. Haven’t we always touted that we, Filipinos, have no need to be urged to show our hospitality? Aren’t we known for that ever-cheerful demeanor, our eagerness to please, our penchant for service?
We go out of our way to make sure that others are comfortable, especially (and sadly) if they are not fellow Filipinos.
Now this is something I would like to point out about our vaunted “Latinos of Asia” culture. Ours is colorful, loud, at times, jarring to the senses. Our blood runs with many races — Asian, Malay, Caucasian, you name it. We are a mix-mix, halo-halo — and we are unique because of it.
Yet sometimes I think it makes us a little confused as a race. Or has the effect of colonialism lasted through all our history, making us unconsciously feel just a little submissive, just a bit embarrassed to be a little browner than the others around us?
We can get extreme about this too: there are those who take the gung-ho “go native” route, and those who try to deny or cover it up or, worse, try to raise themselves above others by stepping on their toes.
I was among a group of media representatives from different countries in Asia recently, and I found that though we spoke with different accents in a language everyone could understand, we were basically the same. We, humans, are the same at the core, after all. In case anyone has forgotten.
We all need to eat and sleep, and we all dream of not just surviving but thriving in a world that is constantly changing. It should be so easy for everyone to simply live in peace, to exist in harmony — but, of course, it is not.
Just as we are 99.9 percent alike in our DNA, we can also be total opposites in our beliefs, and that is why we will always have conflict in our midst.
I realize this train of thought sounds simplistic and perhaps simply unrealistic, but that bit about “experiential tourism” just got me into a similar vein.
President Marcos Jr. wants the country to focus on giving travelers the opportunity “to immerse themselves” in our culture and history. He said travelers today, as a tourism survey revealed, prefer “experiences” rather than “material things.”
Frankly, I always thought travel was about experience, so his words got me thinking about how vague the plan sounded. If we are to be in the business of improving our tourism sector — if we are to be an inviting place to visit, one that visitors would like to come back to again and again, we should start with better efficiency at our ports and airports, and, more than anything, reorienting ourselves with our own culture in the first place.
Filipinos today are thirsting for the kind of cultural authenticity we see in other places. We want to put our best foot forward, yet somehow we manage to pull each other back rather than prop each other up. We want to have that pure sense of identity, but we struggle to recognize what truly defines us as a people.
In other words, we should know ourselves and learn to love it — and that comes from learning about our history in a deeper way — not just about the heroes and villains, or the politics and the arts. If anyone needs immersing, it is us — first.