Nissan launches “Visit the Philippines, Drive to Discover” program

When Dan Brown described Manila as “the gates of hell” in his 2013 novel, Inferno, he wasn’t painting the whole picture. Thanks in part to the Department of Tourism’s efforts as of late, Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike already know that the Philippines is much more colorful than what the thriller novel depicts. Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are homes to countless tourist destination reachable by land, air, and sea travel. In spite of the success of the “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” and “Visit the Philippines” campaigns, the DOT is still going full force in its crusade to boost local tourism with their 2016 campaign, “Visit the Philippines Again.”

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For this worthwhile endeavor, the DOT is not alone. Nissan Philippines Inc. has launched a program to coincide with DOT’s objectives. It’s called “Visit the Philippines, Drive to Discover with Nissan.”

“Because it’s not just about the destination. It’s also about the journey,” explains Toti Zara, NPI President and Managing Director. “Our agreement with the Philippine Tourism Promotions Board was for us to promote local destinations through road travel. The Board promotes the destination, but Nissan promotes the journey.”

The program will start this November and will end next year in October. NPI will promote monthly drives to local destinations reachable by land using their iconic vehicles including the Almera, Altima, Juke, and the Navara. The programs aim is to promote “backpacker tourism,” specifically that which finds destinations with tourism potential and new, discoverable routes going to these destinations.

For their first trip, Nissan invited members of the media to go celebrate the Higantes Festival in Angono, Rizal. They unleashed the new Nissan Almera sedan and took over the steep and tight roads heading to the festival. The new Nissan Almera is available in all dealerships for test-driving and outright sale. It is also available for the program’s duration. The “Visit the Philippines, Drive to Discover with Nissan” will continue until October 2016. The program will be jointly spearheaded by NPI and TPB with monthly road trips with members of the media to various destinations that will be set by the TBP.