He may have shelled out billions of dollars for the Philippines’ hosting of the Miss Universe pageant, but for Luis “Chavit” Singson, the money he poured in was more of an investment than a loss.
“Hindi ho namin naisip kumita nung nag-negotiate kami. I don’t consider it ‘lugi’—it’s an investment basta dumami turista. Madaling bawiin ‘yan basta dumami ang turista,” Singson said during a Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum on Wednesday.
(We didn’t think of earning when we were still negotiating. I don’t consider it as a ‘loss’—it’s an investment as long as there are many tourists. It’s easy to recover once there are a lot of tourists.)
“Walang kapalit ang value, ito na ang pinakamalaking promotion sa ating bansa dahil ang nakatutok diyan 200 nations,” the businessman-politician added.
(There’s no substitute for value, this is the biggest promotion of our country because 200 nations were watching.)
Singson, president of the LCS Group of Companies, said the entire cost of hosting the international beauty tilt in the Philippines was pegged at US $15 million.
The government did not spend a single centavo in hosting Miss Universe, as pronounced by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Singson said he was hoping that the hosting would result in more tourist arrivals, especially that the Miss Universe candidates expressed intention to come back to the country.
“Lahat nagsabi babalik at babalik kami dito. Lahat nagtataka sila ang gaganda pala dito. Lahat ng pinag-usapan namin magaganda,” Singson said, when asked about what the candidates thought of Philippine destinations.
(Everyone’s saying they’re coming back. They were amazed at how this country is beautiful. Everything we discussed was great.)
The Miss Universe bets visited various tourist destinations in the Philippines like Vigan, Baguio, Davao, Cebu and Boracay for pre-pageant activities before the coronation proper last Jan. 31.
Aside from the Singson companies, other Miss Universe partners included Philippine Airlines, SM Group, Solar Entertainment and Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada. JE
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