ASEAN Tourism Slogans, Taglines and Logos
Related post: Tourism Slogans, Taglines, And Logos of 10 ASEAN Countries 2012
An article in internet news site on November 20th really caught my attention. It’s titled ‘Aquino scraps new tourism slogan’. What happened is, after a big and colourful launching, the president ordered the scrapping of the Philippines’ new tourism slogan after it was criticized as boring and unattractive to tourists. Aquino said a better slogan should replace ‘Pilipinas Kay Ganda’ (Philippines So Beautiful) which his government’s tourism department introduced just days ago. The president also conceded the previous ‘Wow Philippines’ slogan is admired more by the people.
It’s interesting to see what a simple slogan can do for a country. Whether Philippines’ tourism department can come out with a better slogan is anybody’s guess. Throughout the world, different slogans, taglines and logos were created by the countries as a way to brand and appeal to potential tourists. Some of the taglines are good and really made a great impact to the countries’ tourism industry, while others are just bland, boring, controversial, and even funny. I took some time to see what other neighboring ASEAN countries have with their slogans and taglines. Here they are, complete with associated logos:
1. Malaysia: ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’
Malaysia have had a couple of tourism slogans since they have identified tourism as key revenue for the country. I can still remember the ‘Fascinating Malaysia’ and ‘To Know Malaysia is To Love Malaysia’. However, the most notable one is the current ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’. This is the most relevant and successful slogan thus far in Malaysia’s effort to become top of the mind destination in Asia, particularly to compete with Thailand as a traditional Asian destination. This slogan had won numerous awards such as ‘Best Long Term Marketing and Branding Campaign Gold Awards’ at Asian Marketing Effectiveness Awards 2008.
2. Singapore: ‘Your Singapore’
Singapore had definitely took a brave re-branding strategy with its new ‘Your Singapore’ campaign. Their previous one is ‘Uniquely Singapore’, or ‘The New Singapore’ before that. It was a result of eight months of research and brain storming between Singapore Tourism Board and its agencies. The new slogan sounds more social by saying that the country is ours, in line with its website that was redesigned to look social-media friendly and funky. However, there are rave and rants in Twitter from Singaporean itself claiming the new slogan makes Singapore belong to everybody, not them. It didn’t help with national issues of double standard treatment to expats loomed in Singapore at present time.
3. Thailand: ‘Amazing Thailand’
Without doubt, Thailand is the most matured country in terms of tourism compared to its ASEAN neighbors. Amazingly, they had consistently used the ‘Amazing Thailand’ slogan as long as I can remember. It is top of the mind destination in this region for long haul tourists. I think it’s not too much to say everybody knows Bangkok or Phuket compared to some other ASEAN cities or islands
4. Indonesia: ‘Visit Indonesia’ – Celebrating 100 years of national awakening
Launched in 2008, Indonesia had extended the Visit Indonesia 2008 slogan until 2010, minus the year and the tagline. Back in 2008, the tourism campaign launched to howls of protest when eagle-eyed readers of the campaign’s Website and in-flight TV advertisements spotted grammatical errors. The slogan, “Celebrating 100 Years of Nation’s Awakening,” has been criticized as “grammatically incorrect” and should be read as “100 Years of National Awakening”
5. Brunei: ‘A Green Heart of Borneo’ or ‘A Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures’
Unlike their neighbors, Brunei is more quite in its tourism promotion. I’m not sure whether the above is the right taglines for Brunei but it’s printed in its Brunei Tourism logo. Tip me if you have any info on Brunei’s tourism slogan.
6. Philippines: ‘Pilipinas Kay Ganda’ or ‘Wow Philippines’
As I’m writing this, the president of Philippines had ordered for the Pilipinas Kay Ganda slogan to be replaced. I’m eager to see the new slogan and logo. Some bloggers accused this logo was copied from Poland’s Tourism.
7. Vietnam: ‘The Hidden Charm’
The new kid on the block is doing well and is gaining popularity among travelers and tourists alike. Vietnam had become a new attractive destination in this region amid changes in its political landscape. The slogan is charming too.
8. Cambodia: ‘Kingdom of Wonder’
Cambodia’s tourism logo is unique compared to other ASEAN countries because they have different versions that depict different characteristics of the country. I personally love the fonts type used in ‘Cambodia’ word. See more versions of the logos here
9. Laos: ‘Simply Beautiful’
As the slogan said, ‘Simply Beautiful’ really is a simple slogan. However, I think it is too general and too easy to describe that the country is beautiful.
10. Myanmar: ‘Mystical Myanmar’
Sorry but I can’t find any logos for Mystical Myanmar or any other Myanmar’s tourism logo. If you did find, please share with me. Too bad because it is one of the country in my wish list.
Update 1 (17 Dec,2010): Thailand adds a new tag line to support its Amazing Thailand slogan for 2011′s promotion. The tag line is “Always Amazes You”.
Update 2 (September,2011): Indonesia had a new “Wonderful Indonesia” tagline for 2011. The logo remains the same (Thnx Lianti for the tips).
Related post: Tourism Slogans, Taglines, And Logos of 10 ASEAN Countries 2012
Hi, just want to update. The new tag line of Indonesia in 2011 is “Wonderful Indonesia” with the same logo – the colorful bird.
Hi Lianti,
Thanks for your input. I just put up the update at the bottom of article.
It seem Myanmar was the worth country to care about Tourism. It seem their logo of Ministry of Hotel and Tourism is the official logo for ATF (Asian Tourism Forum).
khm3ngsr3 recently posted this article: What you think Floppy made for?
Hi, there. Just yesterday, January 6, Philippine Officials have launched its new tourism campaign replacing the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” slogan. With hopes of attracting 10 million annual visitors by 2012, the Department of Tourism relies on its new “It’s more fun in the Philippines” campaign. The Official website’s here: http://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com/ and http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/01/06/12/its-more-fun-philippines-new-tourism-slogan-launched. Thanks!
Hi Dean,
Thanks for the update. The new 2012 slogan sounds better. And it reached the audience immediately. However, their campaign website is still empty. Hope to see more content coming in.
I think the newest are:
1. Brunei Darussalam – A Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures
2. Cambodia – Kingdom of Wonder
3. Indonesia – Wonderful Indonesia
4. Laos – Laos, Simply Beautiful
5. Malaysia – Malaysia Truly Asia
6. Myanmar – Mystical Myanmar
7. Philippines – It’s More Fun in The Philippines
8. Singapore – Your Singapore
9. Thailand – Amazing Thailand
(some sources inform that Thai will rebranding its slogan to Miracle Thailand
10. Vietnam – Timeless Charm
Hi Gandung,
That was a pretty comprehensive update. I am yet to update this post for 2012, which I planned to do. Thanks for the heads up. And good to know about Thailand’s plan to rebrand their well-known slogan.
New slogan is good, but if I were to give our country it’s slogan, it’s : “Islands of wonder” (one coz we are really ISLANDS of 7,000+ to discover; two we just captured the world by winning in the latest WONDERS of the world via PALAWAN…)
That was a good suggestion, Charlie. Palawan is amazing indeed
Hi! What is Hong Kong’s current slogan and what was the one before the current one? Thanks!
Hi yanfang,
I can’t find a reputable source regarding Hong Kong’s latest tourism slogan, but I guess it’s the “Asia’s World City’. And before that is ‘Hong Kong Will Take Your Breath Away’. Hope somebody can verify this.
Hey everyone .. any slogans for the middle eastern countries?
how about China’slogan all my guys?
I know China Forever but i have no information about the new one.
Hi Manhtran,
I think its ‘China Happy & Healthy Tour’ for 2012 promotion. It was displayed and described in their official website. If its true, it sounds more like travel package than slogan
Philippines – “It’s more fun in the Philippines”
Hi Efren,
Yes It’s More Fun in the Philippines. I had updated the slogan in my new article here: http://popia.my/tourism/tourism-slogans-taglines-and-logos-of-10-asean-countries-2012/