Eight faces of P-pop stepped into a new role on Friday, July 3, when BINI arrived at the Department of Tourism Central Office in Makati City for a courtesy call with Tourism Secretary Maria Bernardita “Dita” Angara-Mathay. By the end of the visit, Aiah, Colet, Gwen, Jhoanna, Maloi, Mikha, Stacey, and Sheena had been installed as the country’s newest tourism ambassadors.
The appointment had been hinted at days earlier. Speaking to reporters at the June 29 Wanderlust Week press conference, Angara-Mathay signaled that two P-pop groups would anchor upcoming tourism campaigns, though she held back their names at the time. What she did explain was the reasoning behind turning to pop performers.
“Music is very important. When you watch, for example, an animé, why do you like it? Why do you remember it? It’s not just the images but the music behind,” she told the media.
“We want to combine music and images together so that you form a feeling that stays. That’s what we’re after,” she added.
The selection follows a stretch of international recognition for the group. In April, BINI became the first Filipino group and P-pop act to take the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, across the festival’s two weekends. That same month, the group collected the Global Force Award at the Billboard Women in Music Awards at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, a recognition first given to a Filipino when Sarah Geronimo won it in 2024.
Their touring calendar has been just as full. BINI opened its Signals World Tour with back-to-back sold-out shows at the Mall of Asia Arena on June 20 and 21, with an 11-stop North American run scheduled for August. The group’s earlier honors also include Billboard Korea’s Voices of Asia award, received alongside fellow ambassadors SB19 in Seoul on Aug. 27, 2024.
The DOT’s endorsement arrives even as part of BINI’s schedule has shifted. On July 1, the group told followers on Facebook that the European leg of the tour would be postponed “due to unforeseen circumstances” beyond its control, and that affected tickets would be refunded.
