Lapu to spend only P1M for ads

Even with so much to promote on his tourism destinations, Lapu-Lapu City Hall is opting to ride the Internet revolution to cut down on advertisement costs.

Of the P1.4-billion budget for 2013, the city government of Lapu-Lapu is only allocating P1-million for advertisements.

And the amount will only be spent this  for publication of government projects, bidding and other information dissemination required by law,” said Mayor Paz Radaza.

“We are confident that we can do this tourism promotion with our own initiatives of information dissemination. We thought this is good so nobody can question us for spending on media promotions,” Mayor Radaza said.

She said they can still promote tourism in the city without buying  TV and radio airtime.

“We don’t see yet the need to buy  airtime as we can have them for free in the Internet,” she added.

Promoting the city’s tourism, Radaza said need not be expensive.

“We only use the free resources available like the Internet and the weekly press conference with the media,” Radaza said.

The mayor said the city’s Internet portal, www.lapulapucity.gov.ph and their Facebook fanpage, and Mactan Post account in Facebook have been effective in promoting the city to tourists.

Last month they launched their online newsroom site called “Mactan Post”.

More than 200 volunteer reporters mostly members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) post news about the city’s activities and promote tourist attractions in their respective barangays.

The city government is also mobilizing the youth to help the city develop new tourism products.

Radaza admitted that there is a paid block time program aired in the radio but said it was paid by personal funds of Lapu-Lapu City Rep. Arturo Radaza. The program also airs the city’s activities.

Radaza thanked the volunteerism of Oponganons including the youth through the SKs for their successes, especially in tourism. /Norman V. Mendoza, Correspondent