2024 BACOLOD MASSKARA FESTIVAL SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

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• YAP, RICA MARIE E.
  BSMA 2B
  If i was tourism executive of Bacolod City, I would implement the following strategies to benefit the city in terms of income, tourist arrivals, and overall promotion through the Masskara Festival:

  1.Year-Round Marketing
  -Develop a year-round marketing strategy that promotes Bacolod City as a cultural destination. Create promotional materials and campaigns that highlight the city's unique attractions, not just during the festival but throughout the year. This can help spread tourist arrivals across different seasons, reducing the strain on resources during the festival while increasing overall tourism income.

  2.Cultural Immersion Programs
  -Introduce cultural immersion programs that allow tourists to engage with local traditions and arts. Visitors can participate in mask-making workshops, traditional dance lessons, and cooking classes to experience Bacolod's culture firsthand. These programs provide a deeper connection to the festival and encourage longer stays.

  3. Infrastructure Improvement
  -Invest in infrastructure development to enhance the festival experience. This could include upgrading transportation facilities, improving accommodation options, and expanding venues for festival events. Making it easier for tourists to access and enjoy the festival can significantly boost tourist arrivals and the city's income.

  By adopting these strategies, Bacolod City can create a more sustainable and year-round tourism model that not only benefits from the Masskara Festival but also promotes the city's unique culture and attractions throughout the year.

• Festivals are frequent for Filipinos as a traditional event and celebration of the abundance of the town/city. Here in Bacolod, The Bacoleños are known to its Masskara festival which represents the outlook in life of the people as the City of Smiles which is celebrated every 4th week October.
  It is a spectacular event every year which encourage more tourist annually not only locally but also internationally. The varieties of music, dance and colorful costumes of Electric Masskara and Streetdance competition are one of the various must-see activities. Maintaining the sweetness and the smiles of Bacoleños in accommodating the tourist are the best savors they will be savoring while staying here in the City of Bacolod. The smell of Bacolod can be seen in the image of the sumptuous and tempting juicy Bacolod chicken inasal with lots of anato sauce that’s best paired with garlic rice and the sugary appetizers/desserts. The sweetness of the sugarcane they see while traveling to Bacolod (may it be by air or by land) can be fulfilled after relishing numerous foods like desserts from admired local businesses around the city. Bacoleños elevation on food is a must-try of every tourist. Thus, it might be enticing to see not only masskara’s on this digital page but also provides the variety of pictures of food and places they will get to see and experience here in Bacolod.
  As Bacoleños known to be flexible in all seasons and forms for example in food, fashion, festivity, etc. Bacolod coping in this digital era and yet preserving the cultural heritage like the ruins of Bacolod and numerous beaches and heritage houses in nearby city or town.
  Elevating the city by sharing the countless innovation despite of natural calamities. Invading the digital world is not all about the fame and showing the best but also conquering the obstacles along the way.
  Bacolod may be small in the picture but globally it’s bigger than we think. As the City of Smiles, Let’s make the tourist smile from the day they come until the day they leave. Kari na sa Bacolod!

• 1. Bacolod Masskara Festival can attract a more diverse audience, including international tourists when promotions and Advertisements of the Festival spread all over the world, by using different online platforms, eg. Social Media, Instagram or Youtube.
  2. By preserving the Cultural Ethnicity it can be through community empowerment. This occurs when tourists are educated about the history and traditions of the local community, and in turn that community feels a stronger cohesion and sense of pride in that cultural history.
  3. To enhance its digital marketing efforts to reach a global audience it must be active in social media since mostly is with social media with different applications and as early start advertising and also make sponsorships to promote the place and its festival. It might also be possible to reach out to influencers in social media to help advertise the place especially its festival.
  4. Have a promotional video or the teaser that gives the audience the attention to watch and see if what the festival is all about.

• 1. Bacolod Masskara Festival may attract a more diverse audience, including international tourists while maintaining its appeal to the local community by establishing a strong online presence. In the era where mobile phones have become part of people’s necessities not only as a means of communication but as a medium of connection and source of information for the world, the use of search engines, and social media platforms made its way to effective marketing. A piece of detailed information about the Bacolod Masskara Festival such as its history and the significance that it became part of the Bacolodnon’s tradition and the values that have been passed on to generations and those who experienced the said festival, OFW’s and international tourists may share this information that can trigger the interest of other tourists.
  2. Festivals should be a showcase of the community’s culture and traditions, and the evolution in technology and the evolving demands of a changing audience must not affect its cultural authenticity. First, the choice of festival music should be a remix of the modern beat and the iconic Masskara music incorporating the message of Bacolod Masskara Festival’s theme for the year. Second, the integration of technology in the festival’s highlights, like 3D backdrops that can create an interactive surrounding for the dancers and the spectators, which can be added in the electric masskara event.
  3. With the use of social media platforms digital marketing can be amplified to reach the global audience. A simultaneous virtual reality and creative reality will certainly make an immersive experience for the audience. Ground and drone filming will help in this strategy and streaming it live on all the social media platforms to reach the global audience digitally and as they enjoy, it will trigger their interest to physically experience Bacolod’s Masskara the next time.
  4. The following items must be included in the article to give more information to the readers and festival goers:
  a. The highlights of last year's Masskara events.
  b. The teaser and music video of this year's Masskara.
  c. The schedule of events for this year’s masskara.

• MA. EDNA PROVIDO BSA2B

  For my own perspective the three (3) strategies that I want to implement for the masskara festival to benefit the city in terms of income, tourist arrival and overall promotion of the city. First, social media collaboration social media can help business like masskara festival reach a wider audience and increase engagement through shares, likes, comments and other forms of interaction. Social media marketing is a powerful way for a business. Second, affiliate promotions. Normalized working with influencers and local affiliates who are interested attending your festival. Creating unique affiliate promotions can also help a much wider audience of attendees who are fans of your affiliates. Third, find a perfect venue the right venue insures that your event will be executed to any specification, and that guest will be surprised and delighted by their experience, resulting in a favourable view.

• As the tourism executive of Bacolod City, I would implement the following strategies:
  • Enhance Marketing and Promotion: I would focus on creating a strong marketing campaign to attract tourist from both local and international destinations. This would involve creating engaging promotional materials, leveraging social media platforms, partnering with travel agencies,and collaborating with influences to increase awareness and interest in the festival I would explore opportunities for media coverage and organize press trips to showcase the unique cultural experience of the Masskara Festival.
  •Expand Festival Activities: To attract more tourists and generate income, I would aim to expand the range of activities during the festival. This could include hosting more street parties, introducing new competitive events, and organizing cultural showcases. By diversifying the festival experience, we can cater to a wider audience and encourage longer stays by tourists.
  • Collaborate with Local Businesses: I would establish partnership with local businesses to create packages and special offers for tourists during the festival. This could include discounts on accommodation, transportation, and dining options. By working together,we can create a more attractive and affordable experience for visitors, leading to increased tourist arrivals and economic benefits for the city.
  These strategies would not only help in generating income and attracting more tourists to Bacolod City but also contribute to the overall promotion of the city as a vibrant and culturally rich destination.

• 1. Audience Expansion
  There are a lot of strategies that organizers or the city of Bacolod might wanna consider or enhance to attract more audience. Although some are already in place like for example in cultural programs where the city invites participants from municipality to showcase their own talents and the Masskara websites where those who are interested to visit Bacolod can view the calendar of events and see some promotional materials and local communities being involved in the activity. I think something appealing and enriched experience are what tourist and locals are looking for, since there are already big and known hotels in Bacolod, maybe they can offer international cuisine during the festivals so that those who are from places who doesn’t like the Bacolod taste can do there or reserve a hotel with food inclusion. Also, schools can maybe organize an event where tourist can learn local cultures and mask making or maybe view a video of how the event started and reason why it is celebrated for generations. Lastly, I think it’s also helpful to listen to tourist feedbacks so the event can be improved in the future.
  2. Cultural Preservation
  As what most historians believed, the best way to preserve a cultural heritage and natural history of a place, whatever it may be, is to share it with others because every location is unique and has its own identity. Currently in the Philippines, ways to preserve the cultural heritage is by means of filing petitions, doing activities, making a stand, and hosting webinars to raise awareness. Maybe the Culture in Bacolod can be preserved by collaborating with other group in the community that are very familiar of Bacolod Masskara cultural authenticity while evolving to meet the demands of tourist by allowing them to showcase their own traditions and provide them an experience of our culture maybe by doing workshops.
  3. Digital Marketing
  In the fast-phasing world of technology, it is very important that organizers/facilitators will adopt to it to maintain online presence and showcase the festivals attraction and experiences it offers should they decide to visit the City of Smile. It’s also helping in easy communication with people from different parts of the world who wish to experience Masskara Festival but do not have an idea how to go to Bacolod, where to stay and where to eat. I think digital engagement with tourist specially those who are with limited time and is only relying on information they found in the web or social media can help target the right audience.
  4. What items should be included in the article? I think this article is well thought of and is user friendly for people who haven’t been able to visit Bacolod but is planning to as this already provide information needed by travelers and tourists.

• Audience Expansion: How can the Bacolod Masskara Festival attract a more diverse audience, including international tourist, while maintaining its appeal to the local community.
  • You get to cater, or appeal to more diverse crowds is by innovation. If there is innovation, the spectator would be attracted and curious about new concepts of Masskara festival. Innovation in creating a more diverse, accepting programs and events that would convince that Masskara Festival is a safe space for everyone else. There are many LGBTQ tourists that we can attract if we create more events and concepts that is more accepting and would consider as a safe space for the community. We can fully reach out to the LGBTQ tourist outside of Bacolod to send a message that Bacolod is an accepting city and we welcome them whole-heartedly.
  Cultural Preservation: What strategies can the festival implement to preserve its cultural authenticity while evolving to meet the demands of a changing audience
  • Preserving the old culture and adopting the new trends of the society. Our current target market is the youth, gen Z and Millennials. Most of the younger generations are not aware of how Masskara festival was created. By creating a video presentation created by the younger generations will allow us to marry the old and new culture of Bacolod City. It will also be educational and inspiring as we try to re-open the wonderful history of Masskara Festival.

  Digital Marketing: How can the festival enhance its digital marketing efforts to reach a global audience, and what specific platforms and strategies should be employed?
  • One way to digitally market Masskara Festival in Bacolod City is by partnering with online influencers. Those with a huge number of followers worldwide. Online followers will be given a glimpse of the activities, events and parties in Bacolod City. Another latest trend in marketing is Sneak Peak or Teaser Marketing, teasers creates traffic, attract audiences and can create a potential sale by highlighting the fact the humans are curious by nature. Human curiosity can lead to wonderful outcomes that could generate tourism and visitors in the Masskara festival.

  What items should be included in the article?
  • One of the items that should be added to the article is a complete and more detailed travel guide for international tourist who will be visiting Bacolod. A proper direction on what should they take the moment they arrive in Manila until the moment they reach Bacolod. In that way, tourist or new tourist will be fully equipped with knowledge on how to reach Bacolod.

• MSHM204
  TASK 1
  NAME: Daedaluz Gabayoyo

  Case Study: Bacolod Masskara Festival
  Introduction:
  The Bacolod Masskara Festival is a world-renowned cultural celebration held in Bacolod City, Philippines, on the fourth Sunday of October. The event, known as the "City of Smiles," arose from economic struggles and a devastating maritime catastrophe in 1980. It has evolved into a dynamic event over the years, but it has the problem of retaining its cultural authenticity while broadening its appeal to a varied audience, including international tourists.
  1. Audience Expansion
  • Maintain the festival's main cultural aspects, such as traditional dances and masks.
  • Collaborate with international tourism companies and airlines to market the festival globally.
  • Provide multilingual promotional materials to cater to tourists while respecting local languages.
  2. Cultural Preservation
  • Collaboration with cultural specialists and historians to guarantee traditional components are preserved.
  • Local artists were encouraged to make traditional costumes and props.
  • Cultural education workshops and seminars were held in order to develop a sense of cultural pride in future generations.
  3. Digital Marketing
  • Create an official website with detailed information about the event, such as timetables, history, and cultural significance.
  • Use social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to share interesting graphics and communicate with your audience.
  • Collaborate with travel influencers and bloggers to develop festival content.
  • Introduce online ticketing systems and a mobile app for convenient access to event information.
  4. Additional Items to Include in the Article:
  • A description of the festival's main events, including as street dancing competitions and the Masskara Queen contest.
  • The festival's function in developing community spirit and unity among inhabitants.
  • The importance of capturing real smiles from people in order to live up to Bacolod's status as the "City of Smiles."
  Conclusion:
  The Bacolod Masskara Festival effectively combined tradition and global appeal by using techniques that drew a varied audience while keeping traditional authenticity. By embracing cultural exchanges, preserving fundamental traditions, and leveraging digital marketing, the festival has thrived as an iconic celebration of smiles in the "City of Smiles." This case study demonstrates how cultural events may adapt to new times while honoring their legacy.

• ASSIGNMENT NO. 1

  JOHN GIBSON L. CERVANTES MSHM-1

  1. In my opinion through the expansion of Audience in Masskara Festival, we will invite famous content creators in the country or in bacolod, so that aside from the promotion in the tourism offices. The expansion of its promotion will also lead to our target, to have an increase tourism arrivals either local or international

  2. In order to preserve the culture, we should conduct tourism awareness in every brgy and in other sectors, this is one way on how we are going to educate other people about the importance of our culture, and we should also apply this one to the young learners since they will be the next generation who will continue to preserve the culture

  3. Through digital marketing. we should also upgrade our manpower on how to utilize tools in terms of creating online platforms and promotion. since today technology is fast pacing, and we should adopt this one especially in the tourism industry to promote our tourism products and other services