Philippine E-Journals

Festival Rebranding and Its Implications to the Local Tourism Industry: The Pagsanjan Experience

Charlene Grace T. Limjuico | Jana Ekaterina Nicolle A. Arroyo | John Carlo T. Dagdag

 

Abstract:

Our study utilized the qualitative research design to identify and describe the implications of festival rebranding to the local tourism industry of Pagsanjan. It disclosed the similarities and differences between the Bangkero Festival and the Lagaslas Bangkero Festival. It further explored the experiences of the Municipal Government of Pagsanjan and the Pagsanjan Tourism, Culture and Arts Development Office on the rebranding of the festival in terms of: core service attributes, peripheral attributes, physical attributes, and interactional attributes. Lastly, the study classified and described the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the implemented festival rebranding to the local tourism of Pagsanjan. Interview and participant observation were used to gather information during a week- long Lagaslas Bangkero Festival and analyzed them through thematic analysis. Based on our findings, after going through festival rebranding, Lagaslas Bangkero Festival still has its similarities to Bangkero Festival especially in its planning and execution strategies. Nevertheless, it is the difference in season that made an impact on success of the recent festival. The Lagaslas Bangkero Festival opened opportunities for the Pagsanjan's thriving tourism industry to expand its various tourism services. However, time constraint and the need to enhance planning procedures were identified as areas for improvement. Planning problems resulted in budget constraint and late commencement of the festival. Line-up of activities, tourist arrival, and the community's participation were also affected. It was therefore recommended that the Municipal Government of Pagsanjan and Pagsanjan Tourism, Culture and Arts Development Office must improve the festival attributes of Lagaslas Bangkero Festival through a more detailed and systematized festival planning and execution. NGOs must have a wider and more active participation in the planning and execution process of the festival. Moreover, the Tourism Management Program of Letran Calamba should include festival re/branding topics in the Tourism Planning and Development course.