You're reading: ‘It’s more fun’ here, Philippines tells travelers

The Philippines is highlighting the ebullient nature of Filipinos in a campaign to draw more visitors to Asia's tourism laggard.

The country says: "It’s more fun in the Philippines."

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez says, "What differentiates the Philippines from other offerings is the Filipino."

The campaign introduced through social media and other outlets Friday aims to draw 4.2 million tourists this year and 10 million by 2016 from only 3.7 million last year.

Online campaign can be found at itsmorefuninthephilippines.com.

The Philippines boasts of beautiful beaches and diving, English-speaking people and cheap shopping. But it lacks infrastructure. Visitors are also deterred by communist and Muslim insurgencies and bombings and kidnappings by al-Qaida-linked extremists in the south.

A U.S. travel warning Thursday cites the risk of terrorist activity.