( CNN ) -- The Philippines Department of Tourism has a lot to boast about . The country has beautiful beaches , great scuba diving and a culture that is known for its hospitality . What it does n't have is a lot of money for a global tourism campaign . Thankfully , the country 's social media mad population is happy to help . In January , the government launched a campaign with the tagline `` It 's More Fun in the Philippines , '' openly inviting the country 's bloggers , tweeters and Facebook friends to come up with their own ads . `` We just opened another battlefront , which was the social media side and tapping into the fact that there are 27 million Filipinos on Facebook , '' says campaign creator David Guerrero . The response was resounding . Within hours # itsmorefuninthephilippines became the number one trending item on Twitter . Facebook pages filled with homemade ads popped up , exclaiming everything from `` Social Climbing , More Fun in the Philippines , '' to `` Angry Birds , More Fun in the Philippines . '' Roland Benzon was one of many Filipinos who seized on the campaign with delight , creating his own Facebook album of ads . Within 24 hours , his work was shared by over 10,000 people . He says the democratic nature of the campaign inspired him . `` Usually it 's top down , '' he says . `` The government does something and we just sit there passively reacting to it and voicing our opinions . Here it was n't that way . We actually made the ads . '' Read more : Why Philippines tourism is a tough sell . The use of crowd-sourcing did mean that not all the ads stuck to the positive messages the government hoped to convey . Ads sprung up with slogans like `` Poverty , More Fun in the Philippines , '' and `` Corruption , More Fun in the Philippines . '' `` There is no way with a genuine people 's campaign that you can control everything that people are going to say and everything is going to be the way you 'd like it to be , '' says Guerrero . Still he feels the positive reception for the campaign has overwhelmed the negative . Tourism numbers to the Philippines are rising , though the country does have a long way to go . Fewer than four million people visited the country last year , compared with 19 million to Thailand and the industry has yet to become a tent pole for the broader economy . However visitor arrivals were up nearly 16 % in the first two months of this year . One of the Philippines ' greatest battles in attracting tourists will continue to be its poor infrastructure . Roads and airports across the country are in need of a major upgrade and tourists ' complaints range from hassles with dishonest taxi drivers to less than savory toilets . The current government has said it is committed to upgrading the country 's tourism infrastructure , allocating a chuck of money towards the cause in the 2012 budget . Those involved in the travel industry says such government support is necessary if the country wants to fully capitalize on the buzz from its tourism campaign . After all , it 's one thing to promise people `` More Fun in the Philippines '' but another thing to deliver it .
The Philippines attracted around 4 million tourists last year . But the country is still struggling to recover from a devastating typhoon in November that killed more than 7,100 people and left millions homeless. Social media a huge help to promoting the Philippines as holiday destination .