It’s lunchtime on the Loboc River, an emerald green stretch of water that runs through the Philippine island province of Bohol, and I’m about to embark on a boat tour with a group of Japanese, Korean and Filipino tourists. We pass a sign asking us to deposit our guns at the tourist information gate and then amble aboard our floating restaurant. Over a buffet lunch of fruit, meat and cheese, we watch kids perform choreographed dance numbers on the riverbank and listen to the musical stylings of a pair of 12-year-old singers. The highlight comes when we reach a series of miniature waterfalls, where the sound of rushing river competes with the girls’ rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” Tourism, Philippine-style, is slowly taking off. For years, the country has been overlooked in favor of its Southeast Asian neighbors, due largely to enduring security concerns and its crumbling infrastructure. Nearly 4 million tourists visited the Philippines last year, compared with some 19 million visitors in nearby Thailand. But the government hopes to change that, devising a plan to double the number of visitors to the archipelago by 2016. As part of this effort, it launched a multimillion-dollar global media campaign in January promising prospective tourists: “It’s more fun in the Philippines.” As we motor down the stream, enjoying the show and laughing at the kids dive-bombing into the water from the riverbank, I’m inclined to agree. But in a country where visitors’ fun can sometimes collide with violent crime, terrorist threats, potholed roads and antiquated airports, the slogan has been subject to criticism. After releasing a report detailing what it calls the country’s “disturbing” crime rate last year, the anticrime group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption came up with its own catchphrase: “It’s more dangerous in the Philippines.” (MORE: Philippine Gun Ban Kicks Off amid Campaign Violence) Indeed, if the country wants to attract more tourists, it’s going to have to shake off a reputation for violence that became even more entrenched by a 2010 hostage crisis on a Manila bus that![]()
