PROMOTING TOURIST DESTINATION:

AN ASSESSMENT OF GUSALING MUSEO IN THE CITY

OF SANTA ROSA, LAGUNA

A Tourism Plan Proposal

Presented to our Adviser in
Tourism Policy Planning and Development in STI College – Calamba

By:
Cervantes, Kyle A.
Cañete, Desiree
Clemente, Michaela
Laylo, Elgie Lean
Lugar, Charlene
Luis, Marianne
Saniano, Honey Joy
Santiago, Donna Mae
Vivas, Jodelyn

January 30, 2020

DESCRIPTION OF THE TOURIST DESTINATION:

In nowadays generation, people are more into travelling to places wherein they

can gather not only information but also experiences that can be new to them. One of

the places that is love by the tourists to visit based on The National Museum of the

Philippines director, Jeremy Barns are the museums. To quote, “When tourists go to a

country especially for the first time, they are really interested in getting to know the

place, especially the youth. So, for many tourists, the big museums are the first place

they go (to) because in a short visit, maybe an hour or so, they can get a good glimpse

of the culture, the history.” A museum is an institution that cares for the conservation of

collections of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific

importance. The largest museums that are known and famous are can be found in

major cities throughout the world, while thousands of local museums exist in smaller

cities, towns and rural areas. Museums have varying aims, ranging from serving

researchers and specialists to serving the general public. One of these historical

museums the treasures our past is the Gusaling Museo located at Santa Rosa City,

Laguna.

Gusaling Museo is a historical museum that showcases the rich history of the

Santa Rosa and its significance to the whole of Laguna. It displays artifacts and

furniture from pre - Spanish era to the times of World War II, as well as the memorabilia

of famous personalities from the city. It is a heritage Museum that is located near the

city Plaza and the Parish Church. The Museum opened on January 17, 2006 and

inaugurated on August 23. 2006. According to Laguna - destinations “The museum was

established to give pride to the rich history of the City and to commemorate the heroic
deeds of Santa Rosa heroes.” The museum is the home of the culture and tradition of

people of Santa Rosa, Laguna. Gusaling Museo is a two-story building which was built

in 1828 during the Spanish period as government building under the reign of Hon. Don

Bernardo Zavalla. Gusaling Museo is a museum in Santa Rosa, Laguna that is full of

historical evidences such as artifacts, cultures and activities that really define the

natives of the city. Promoting the museum to the public will help the city to know more

its history and culture. Also, if the promotion and innovation will become successful, the

museum will be known not only locally but also internationally, which will results to more

tourists destination will be boom. Moreover, Santa Rosa, officially the City of Santa

Rosa, (Tagalog: Lungsod ng Santa Rosa), or simply known as Santa Rosa City, is a 1st

class city in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a

population of 353,767 people. It is the second largest local government unit in Laguna

after Calamba. Santa Rosa was initially known for the Coca-Cola and Toyota

manufacturing plants in its industrial estates. Recently, it has also become popular for

being the site of Enchanted Kingdom, a local theme park; as well as several housing

developments. This city contains the 3rd largest complex in Laguna, Paseo de Santa

Rosa. Santa Rosa became a city by virtue of Republic Act No. 9264, which was ratified

by its residents on July 10, 2004. Thus, if it happened that Gusaling Museo will be

promoted and innovated plus the tourist will have the capacity to know its beauty, it will

be more accessible and the city will be encouraging more tourists to visit its place and

know more about it.

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Gusaling Museo is a very old building that holds a lot of important history of

Santa Rosa. This building holds the memoirs of the past that needed to be protected

and be appreciated. That is why in this tourism planning, we thought of something new

that can make the museum come back to life. The theory that we want to apply to the

museum would be Modernization Theory. Modernization theory is a theory that

emphasizes an area's economic progress and the transformation from traditional to

modern. With the help of this theory we can create something new for the museum to

be known again.

Now a days, some architectural design or some old stuffs are being restored with a

touch of modernization and in that point we thought that it is not also possible to do it to

the museum. One of the example that has a touch of modernization would be the

National Museum. Even though the theory we choose is modernization, we won't let the

touch of traditional will be vanish. We just want to enhance the stuffs of the past by

using the modern technology, and we can also use modern technology to emphasize

the record of the past in order to showcase these in public. For example, the 3D

Wallpaper or a Television that showcases the different historical events happened in the

city. Modernization is also a great marketing strategy because so many people are

attached with technology especially the young one. If we are able to modernize the

things we can found in the museum, these will surely attracts more tourists locally and

internationally.
TOURISM PLANNING PLATFORM

As the researcher observed, Gusaling Museo is a huge establishment that offers

wide variety of artifacts that symbolizes the rich culture of Rosanians. This museum has

only a small area now than before since it was lack in attention and prioritization. As the

researchers, the platform that we have been chosen was the Advocacy Platform that

focuses on the positive impact that the tourism brings. Museums are believed to be

established for the purposes of education and learning, collection, conservation,

research and enjoyment. As a matter of fact, these establishments tell us the stories

around the area even though no one is there to guide us. Also, museum can also create

employment, foreign exchange income and modernization on infrastructure. As the

Gusaling Museo will be innovated by the help of the government or local municipality of

Sta. Rosa it will be a great way to encourage tourists to visit the museum. In today’s

modern world, modernization on infrastructure is easy if there are capital that are really

allocated in the improvement. If only the local government will give attention to the

destination, this will be probably possible. Through the development Gusaling Museo, it

can also create job employment for the local community. Human resources will be

needed as they give services for the tourist that will visit the destination. Tourism and

hospitality also support indirect employment which affect the economic impact of the

city. To justify them, it must be proved that museums can attract extra visitors and extra
fund for the area. In economic i9mpact studies, this first round spending which is called

direct impact is the easiest to measure. The second-round spending which is the

indirect impact can also be visible. For example, when museum restaurants purchase

ingredients from local suppliers and then use these to sell something new. The museum

employees spending their wages in the local area represents the induced impact which

is the third round spending. As the researchers, this Advocacy Platform aimed to help

the museum to improve the facilities, gain tourist and creates diversified employment

opportunities in different sectors. Thus, we are focusing on the positive impact that a

tourism destination and tourists will bring in order for the positive outcome to be

possible.

TOURISM PLANNING APROACH

Gusaling Museo is a museum in Santa Rosa, Laguna that is full of historical

evidences such as artifacts, cultures and activities that really define the natives of the

city. As the researchers observed when they went to the museum, lack of innovations

and development are the reasons why this historical museum seems to be unknown to

the public. In line with this, the researchers choose this the Product - led Development

approach because they observed that the museum needs a lot of new things that can

attract visitors. This kind of approach focused on the development of tourism

destination’s infrastructures, amenities, and facilities that will naturally attract the tourists

upon visiting the destination. It is said that this approach simply supports the idea of

building something new so that the market will automatically take notice of it. Thus, if

this approach will be optimize and use, definitely the destinations will regain its

popularity again.
 In this era, most of the people doesn't care about what lies behind our past or

history. They just love what is new to them and the things they can post in social media

for their own satisfaction. So we decided to add something new that can catch the

attention of this new generation. Technology and innovation is the most applicable

material that we need to promote this museum and make it back on track.

The things that the researchers want to add to the museum that can attract for the

young generation would be:

1. A 3D wallpapers that can showcase the beauty of old Santa Rosa and the

historical places you can found in here.

2. LED lights; these lights will be the one that will highlight every artifacts from the

past.

3. An Observatory Room that will show a glimpse of what happened in Gusaling

Museo through the years.

4. A television wherein it features the rich culture of Santa Rosa and its history.

5. We will encourage the tourism office to showcase all the artifacts in the museum

since some of them are just inside of the room due to the shortage of space and

lack of time to fix things.

TOURISM OPTIMIZATION MANAGEMENT MODEL (TOMM)

Tourism Optimization Management Model is a framework design to make the

locals realize the importance of preserving their own natural resources in order to

maintain the attractiveness of the destination and develop in into a “tourism icon”.

Q1. WHAT IS THE AREA’S CURRENT POSITION AND RESOURCES?

 Santa Rosa is a world class, smart and green city with a sustained and inclusive

economic growth that is driven by transparent and accountable local governance,

effective civil servants and empowered citizenry. Santa Rosa is a confluence of the old

and the new. While modernization and urbanization is taking place, the city still

maintains much of its rich cultural heritage. While Santa Rosa has become a

commercial hub with its many shopping malls and commercial complexes, the City

Proper still maintains its tradition as can be seen in the well-preserved artefacts in the

Museo de Santa Rosa and some of the Spanish era heritage houses. Industries are

sprouting yet the city remains old as evidenced by the Cuartel de Santo Domingo, a

Spanish era garrison that is a small version of Intramuros. The Gusaling Museo is

museum is located on the second floor of a building built in 1828 to house the municipal

government. It opens to a wall panel of the city's mayors then to a hall showcasing the

old way of living in Santa Rosa. It features furniture and adornments used in the olden

days such as the batibot, a chair only the elite owned. A display takes pride in the

famed musicians who hail from the city Maria Carpena and the Tiongco Brothers.

Photos on exhibit capture these early days of Santa Rosa. Admission is free but you

must call first to ensure the curator is around on your visit. The area's current position

literally lies in front of the city plaza and Santa Rosa de Lima Parish church and just

across the current municipal hall. This area is very accessible since it is just along the

road and can be seen easily. In terms of the residents, Class A to Class C groups are

present in the area. The livelihood in Santa Rosa is stable and the resources usually

come from the corporate world. Also, one of the resources of this place is fisher and

farming. Santa Rosa is also good when it comes in generating revenues from the
industrial establishments. The current position of the museum to the city is that it

generates and preserves the culture of the city and memorabilia of the important people

in Santa Rosa. The museum is where the Department of Tourism of the city offices is.

They collect their resources from the fund of the government as well as from the

donations of the people visiting the area. Thus, we need to promote and advertise more

the museum so that it will become one of the prime tourist spots in the city of Santa

Rosa.

Q2. WHICH HUMAN RESOURCES CAN HELP THE AREA?

Gusaling Museo is the place where artifacts and memorabilia of the city resides.

In order to maintain the cleanliness and audacity of the museum, we need human

resources which will be the responsible for optimizing the area. The following are the

human resources that can help the attraction to be maintain and develop into a tourism

icon in the area, in the whole province, and maybe in the whole country.

Architects

They create the overall look of buildings and other structures, but the design of a

building involves far more than its appearance. Buildings that they design also must be

functional, safe, and economical and must suit the needs of the people who use them.

They are the one who will help in renovating the attraction into a world class museum.

They are the responsible in creating and designing the museum into a modernize one

which can attract the tourists to visit the museum.

Engineers and Construction Workers

 They are the one who possesses the knowledge or expertise to create and

implement plans or build machines and other innovative materials. They execute what

are the plans that are created by the Architects. Engineers are responsible in shaping

the future look or the modernization of the museum. The safety, durability,

improvement, and others are in their hands. They need a helping hand from the

construction worker to make this possible. Construction workers are the laborers who

will construct and rebuild the planned infrastructure or museum. Their determination and

hard work are the key to successfully build the future of this attraction.

Government

Government is an important aspect of any society and at the very basic level,

they exist to ensure order. They are the one who can help the museum to be well

known and help it to restore and develop in a tourist icon because it is one of the area’s

known attraction that has been unnoticed to other people locally. The Government can

help by means of supporting and provide funds and necessities that the museum

needed. Advertisement and publicity of the attraction can also help it to be recognize by

people and to showcase them some of the treasurers that can be found in the museum.

Tour Guides and Local Volunteers

Tour Guides are very necessary to help the museum to be a successful attraction

because they are the one who will showcase the gems and treasurers that can be found

in the museum. They well help the tourist understand how and what shapes the city and

also show them the artifacts that are displayed inside. Local Volunteers are also needed

due to the fact that they are the ones who can help the museum to be well maintain and
preserve for the better future of it so that future generation can still see and visit the

museum. They are the ones who can help in cleaning, assisting and etc. in the

museum.

Therefore, these human resources are needed in order to recalibrate and redirect the

museum to become one of the prime tourist spots in the city.

Q3. HOW OTHER TOURISM DESTINATIONS DO RECOGNIZED THE AREA?

Gusaling Museo is very easy to travel with to the people when it comes with

accessibility. It is just around the corner from the Arch of the Santa Rosa City and the

current city hall. Its right across the Parish church and the city plaza. A few walks from

the museum will bring you to the ancestral houses that are still standing and

showcasing the past way back the Spaniards era. In this case, the only way to

recognize the museum to other tourism destinations is through promotion and visibility.

If it happen that the museum has a lot of visibility materials to be used such as flyers,

banners, and signage, people and other destinations will be easily notice the destination

itself. Also, having a website with wide variety of information in different categories is an

effective marketing approach which make people get interested into it and then to try to

go there and visit. Moreover, we can also do direct marketing through the use of printed

brochure and posters to keep in touch with future visitors and update information about

museum. This can be the best promotional tool for the museum to recognize of the

other destinations. Tourists’ spots around Santa Rosa must be knowledgeable

regarding this museum for them to also market and promote the destination to the

public. For example in Enchanted Kingdom, since this museum showcases the rich

culture of the city, they can at least feature this to one of their activities or at least let the
museum to have a brochure around the park. In that case, they will help the museum to

be known more to the public since they cater not only local visitors but also

internationally. One more thing is through Blog or social media posting. It is an

interesting way to promote multiple assets at once. They provide a roundup of

attractions with a common theme and are usually written more conversationally than

other marketing pieces. Blogs and social media can also provide a deeper look into a

niche topic as it relates to a museum than a brochure could. Through gorgeous photos

and captivating language, guides or brochures paint an overall picture of what a visitor

can expect. Lastly, it could be also through commercial. This may even generate

interest from media who want an interview or travel writers who want to experience it for

themselves. It is one effective way of promoting the destination itself yet costly.

Investment by the LGUs and government of Santa Rosa will be needed to this kind of

promotion since this will benefit the city for tourists will be knowledgeable about the

destinations in Santa Rosa, Laguna and may buy products in it. Thus, this are the ways

on how do other tourism destination can recognize Gusaling Museo.

Q4. WHAT ARE THE AREA’S CORE STRENGTH AND OPPORTUNITIES?

These strengths and opportunities are the core of the area. It is because the area

is at the heart of the city and the government acknowledge the museum even if it is not

quite popular to the people. They still operate, support and take good care of it and also

has a well responsible and knowledgeable employees that help in preserving the

building and the cultural aspects and records in the museum.

STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITY
  Strategic location
 Promotional strategies
 Government interest and
 Active tour guide
responsibility for support and
 Modernization of the area
development
 Advance technology
 Political stability
 Trends in tourism demand
 Good attitude and responsible
employees
 Rich with cultural records and
antiques relics and artifacts

Table 1. Strength and Opportunities of Gusaling Museo

The strength of the museum really affects its stand as the prime destination in

the city. The strategic location where it is located seems to be very accessible in any

forms of land transportation. The government also support this area for they still give

importance in the museum in terms of the maintenance of the cleanliness of the area

and designate some people to oversee the place. Also, the political stability of the city

affects the standing of the museum to be prioritize and advance its essence. The good

attitude and the responsibility of the employees become also their strength since giving

quality customer service is one way of developing loyal customer and can be a great

asset in promoting the museum to other tourists. Lastly, the rich culture with evidences

such as records and artifacts really bring the essence of the museum. These strengths

of the museum help the establishment to maintain the beauty and preserve the

historical and cultural aspects of the city.

 The opportunities that the museum can offer to the people is that they can learn

and get something from the past that the present does not have, like the simple way of

living and appreciating even the little things. Promotion would be one of the main

opportunities of the museum since it lacks in terms of the number of tourist visitation

and the only way to solve this problem is through effective promotional strategy. Also,

the museum must have an active tour guide in order for them to provide an exceptional

customer service to every tourists that may visit the museum. Tour guides are the one

who are responsible for providing information that are needed for the tourists to be able

to understand more the past and the rich culture of Santa Rosa. Modernization also

takes place as the opportunity in this museum since it lacks of new gadgets and/or

technologies that can catch the attention of the future tourists. Lastly, Gusaling Museo

must go with the trends in the demand of the tourism industry in order to catch up with

the recent innovations that are widely present in the market. These opportunities, if

given a chance to be focus, this will make the objectives of the museum be possible and

applicable.

Q5. WHAT DOES THE AREA WANTS TO ACHIEVE IN THIS PROCESS?

The Gusaling Museo was built in order to showcase and commemorate the rich

history and the good deeds of the heroes in the City of Sta. Rosa. We did this tourism

planning to come up on what are the possible ideas that can be done in order for the

tourism site to be a develop and successful tourism destination. Achievements cannot

be easily attained if you do not exert effort +and planning things excellently. Since

Gusaling Museo is not that popular to the tourists, the area aims to be one of those

museums that are well - known and attracts lots of tourists locally and internationally.
The main objective of this study is to assess and promote the Gusaling Museo in Santa

Rosa, Laguna to be known and to be one of the tourist destinations in Laguna. Of

almost 161 museums in our country (based on National Committee on Museums

(NCOM) in 2015), the researchers want Gusaling Museo to be famous and be one of

the landmarks in Santa Rosa, Laguna. Museums are very helpful in terms of giving

importance to our cultures for it preserves the artifacts that came from our ancestors.

Thus, if this museum will be promoted and preserved the things that can be found inside

of it, it will be very useful for the tourists especially for the students who will visit the said

destination to know more about the city and province for it is full of information and

histories that are important in the Filipino culture. Generally, promotion is

communicating with the public to create awareness and persuade them toward buying

products and/or services. The word promotion is also used specifically to refer to an

activity that is intended to promote the business, places, products or services. A store

might advertise that it`s having a big promotion on certain items, for instance, or a

business person may refer to an advertisement as a promotion. Promotion means a

method that is used for getting people or creating an awareness among people about

products or services being offered by the company. Advertising, public relations, point-

of-scale displays, and word-of-mouth promotion are all traditional ways for promotion.

Thus, this is the way of the researchers to finally regain the popularity of the museum

again. If we can able to promote the destination and build something new that can

easily catch the attention of the tourists, then the museum will increase their number of

tourism visitation and will be well - known to the public.

Q6. HOW CAN THE AREA REACH ITS OBJECTIVE?

 Gusaling Museo is a museum in Santa Rosa, Laguna that is full of historical

evidences such as artifacts, cultures and activities that really define the natives of the

city. Thus, promoting the museum to the public will help the city to know more its history

and culture. In order to accomplish the objective of Gusaling Museo, all we have to do is

to use the Modernization theory by increasing the number of artifacts and other objects

of artistic, cultural, and historical items that are part and has something to do with the

history of Sta. Rosa. Modern technology will also help the Gusaling Museo to attract

more tourists. Another thing is that some of the latest technologies that can be used in

museums that will really capture the attention of the tourists can be invested such are

the 3D wallpapers that can showcase important events and history of the town of Sta.

Rosa, LED lights that illuminate each artifact of Gusaling Museo, and television showing

the beauty and story of Sta. Rosa. The Gusaling Museo can also be promoted in

different schools and companies in Sta. Rosa to encourage students and employees to

be the catalyst for discovering and revisiting the museum. Also, in order to reach the

goals of the museum, the latter need to improve the building itself and transform it into a

modernize museum in order to be able to keep up with the current trends on the tourism

industry. Even if the traditional one was being overwhelmed by the modernity of the

attraction, we thought that we should at least leave a trace of the old one to be able to

justify the essence of the artifacts in the museum. It is because tourists, nowadays

prefer traditional with a touch of modern attractions type of destinations. Some

examples of these are the Calle Crisologo and Intramuros where they showcases the

rich culture of the place with a touch of modernization.

References:

 Guia, Jhaypee. September 3, 2012. Museo de Santa Rosa. Retreived from https://www.

vigattintourism.com/tourism/articles/Museo-de-Santa-Rosa

 Santa Rosa City. 2005. Heritage Sites. Retrieved from https://santarosacity.gov.ph/about-sta-

rosa/heritage-site/

 Biyaheng Laguna. March 1, 2014. Gusaling Museo. Retrieved from http://www.biyahenglaguna.

com/ adventures/throwback-adventure/gusaling-museo/

 Winston, Kimberly. 2010. Modernization Theory: Definition, Development & Claims. Retrieved

from https://study.com/academy/lesson/modernization-theory-definition-development-claims.

html

 Ynalvez, Marcus. 2015. Modernization Theory. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/

topics/social-sciences/modernization-theory