By IVAN MAYRINA, GMA News Published May 26, 2026 10:43pm + Add GMA on Google Make this your preferred source to get more updates from this publisher on Google. TOKYO – Newly installed Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay is looking at “low lying fruits” to boost tourism – instead of focusing on inviting foreigners to enjoy the beauty of the Philippines, why not tap local tourists and balikbayans as well?“Ang domestic po (Domestic tourism is) is four times what we earn from foreign travelers, foreign visitors. So ‘yun talaga (So there), if you look at the composition of how much the industry earns, malaki ang contribution ng domestic tourism (domestic tourism contributes a lot). That’s where we find the-low hanging fruits,” she said.“What we are going to do by June is to launch a domestic tourism campaign. We have spoken to some hotels, restaurants and other members of the industry to give discounted packages to our returning balikbayans and domestic tourists so that the business will keep on flowing,” Angara-Mathay added.With the admission that the tourism sector is not performing as well as expected, the Department of Tourism (DOT) is keen on getting popular girl group Bini to be the Philippines’ tourism ambassadors.Bini made history last month as the first all-Filipino girl group to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California.“We are so proud of them for their Coachella stint and we congratulated them, of course. We always put value to our talents for waving our flag on the international stage,” Angara-Mathay told reporters.The DOT will keep the “Love the Philippines” as a tourism slogan, but its messaging will be refreshed to align with their push for domestic tourism, Angara-Mathay said.“Make it something like ‘discover your first love,’ or ‘love your own,’” she saidAngara-Mathay is among the Cabinet officials who joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his first state visit to Japan.She was the former trade representative of the Philippines to Tokyo before her appointment as Tourism Secretary, replacing Maria Christina Frasco. — JMA, GMA News