Davis Cup and PH tourism

Filipino tennis fans know that the Davis Cup is a prestigious international team event in men’s tennis, but few know that this tournament has a Philippine connection. Dwight F. Davis, one of the four original Harvard tennis players who conceived of the competition to challenge a British team in 1899, commissioned and paid for the sterling silver trophy from Shreve, Crump & Low. The tournament was originally known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, but it is better known today as the Davis Cup because of the silver trophy. Davis served as governor general of the Philippines in 1929-1932.

We remember American governors general through street names in Manila, like Taft Avenue (named after William Howard Taft, the first US governor general, who served in 1901-1903), Harrison (after Francis Burton Harrison, 1913-1921), or that street near the University of Santo Tomas known as “Por-bes” (after William Cameron Forbes, 1908-1913). In Makati, Forbes is immortalized in the premier gated community Forbes Park, which some people refer to as “Pob-res Park” because of some high-profile mortgaged properties.

In Baguio, Luke Wright, governor general in 1904-1906, is remembered through a “Pool of Pines” named Wright Park, and Leonard Wood, governor general in 1921-1927, through a street in his name.

But Davis is remembered because of a tennis tournament.

I came across writings by Arsenio N. Luz that included an article he wrote in the Sunday Tribune of Sept. 29, 1929, providing his recollections of the US governors general he knew. Wright, for example, he described as “openly reactionary.” After his posting in Manila, Wright became US ambassador to Japan and, later, US secretary of war.

Henry Clay Ide succeeded Wright in 1906 and served for about five months. If we include the times Ide was acting governor or vice governor, he served for about 10 months. Ide was described as “indifferent.”

Luz recalled that James Francis Smith (1906-1909) was well-meaning, a good diplomat, and Spanish-speaking. Forbes was energetic but one-sided, while Harrison was a highly polished, dashing southern aristocrat.

According to Luz, Dwight Davis was quick to smile, and endeared himself to high society by learning and participating in the traditional rigodon in Malacañang. He was so likable that during a trip to Cebu, the schoolchildren he encountered referred to him as “Daddy Davis.” He was a good sport, bantered with Filipinos, and showed his Harvard wit by exchanging verbal barbs with them during events at the Columbian.

Davis established the Philippine Tourist Association and shared his thoughts on the promise of the Philippines as a tourist destination. He is quoted to have said:

“These islands are endowed by nature with some of its most magnificent masterpieces, but so far we seem to have neglected to properly appreciate and capitalize on their artistic and economic value. There also seems to be a wrong conception of what would strongly appeal to the interest of the tourist. The average American or European tourist is mainly interested in the exotic. He wants to see something different from what the museums and show places of the Old and New Worlds have in store for him. He wishes to contemplate the unusual. When he leaves his country he is in a romantic frame of mind and he wants his imagination and his poetic sense kindled. There is no sense, therefore, in advertising to the outside tourist world such things as our Pier Number Seven nor even the Manila Hotel. They mean nothing to the imagination of the occidental tourist coming from countries far advanced in material greatness and comfort. The bamboo organ of Las Piñas has a greater meaning and deeper interest to the tourist than the best wharf or the most monumental pier that our millions could put up. Because the tourist is preeminently concerned with the unusual, the unique, the picturesque.

“We should enhance the value of our own beauty spots by adding to them a dash of the romantic. We should revive the old legends and myths created by the imagination of the past generations which crown them with a poetic hallow. This is so important that where these legends are lacking they should be written.

“With regard to hotel accommodations, while comfort, services and sanitation are essential, it would not be necessary to build expensive concrete American structures. In fact, it would be better to build ample and comfortable typical Filipino bungalows of nipa and bamboo provided with the most modern up-to-date sanitary appliances and equipment. This will be less expensive and will appeal more to the tourists.”

Having visited Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok recently, I wondered about the way we are selling the Philippines as a tourist destination today. Does “It’s more fun in the Philippines” capture best what Davis described as the unusual, the unique, and the picturesque that the Philippines can offer? Tourism as seen from the success of our neighbors can generate jobs and income only if we have the infrastructure to support it. Davis saw this promise so long ago. The question is why we aren’t doing enough to make the Philippines a major tourist destination.

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