Maybe this question is too broad, and maybe you think it shows some amateurism, but I would appreciate your input anyways: If you had to name a few services which you would definitely appreciate to see in a new agency and which you miss in others, which ones would those be?

In other words: what should the ideal (online + offline) agency have to offer qua services?

Waiting for your input, thx a lot!

I already have a small travel agency in Thailand with a small staff, but the idea is to cover South East Asia in general (primarily Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam).

The agency will be full-service which means there will be in-country staff who will see to it that the client is welcomed, well housed and meets the ladies in a timely way. (Of course, the services are optional and the traveler can choose to arrange everything for himself if he wishes to do so).

For me, this means operating as a travel agency or tour operator, which entails certain legal and business responsibilities. But I think this benefits the credibility of an agency.

Of course, the online portfolio will have to be a solid and credible service in itself.

I hope that answers your question. And I hope to hear your suggestions soon!

Thx
Cubalibre.

Some politicians over there take this stuff very seriously and will jump at the chance to make an example out of any foreigner dealing in any kind of introductions. One American guy running an Internet address selling service was permanently banned from the Philippines recently.

I think it would be best to completely forget about any kind of in-country staff whatsoever in the Philippines. At least consult with a Filipino attorney before doing ANYTHING. Here is a partial text of the applicable law:

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6955

AN ACT TO DECLARE UNLAWFUL THE PRACTICE OF MATCHING FILIPINO WOMEN FOR MARRIAGE TO FOREIGN NATIONALS ON A MAIL-ORDER BASIS AND OTHER SIMILAR PRACTICES INCLUDING THE ADVERTISEMENT, PUBLICATION, PRINTING OR DISTRIBUTION OF BROCHURES, FLIERS AND OTHER PROPAGANDA MATERIALS IN FURTHURANCE THEREOF AND PROVIDING PENALTY THEREFOR.

SECTION 1. It is the policy of the state to ensure and guarantee the enjoyment of the people of a decent standard of living. Towards this end, the State shall take measures to protect Filipino women from being exploited in utter disregard of human dignity in their pursuit of economic upliftment.

Sec. 2. Pursuant thereto it is hereby declared unlawful:

(a) For a person, natural or juridical, association, club or any other entity to commit, directly or indirectly, any of the following acts:

(1) To establish or carry on a business which has for its purpose the matching of Filipino women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail order basis or personal introduction.

(2) To advertise, publish, print or distribute or cause the advertisement, publication, printing or distribution of any brochure, flier or any propaganda material calculated to promote the prohibited acts in the preceding sub-paragraph;

(3) To solicit, enlist or in any manner attract or introduce any Filipino woman to become a member in any club or association whose objective is to match women for marriage to foreign nationals either on a mail order basis or through personal introduction for a fee;

(4) To use the postal service to promote the prohibited acts in subparagraph 1 hereof.

(b) For the manager or officer in charge or advertising manager of any newspaper, magazine, television or radio station, or other media, or of an advertising agency, printing company or other similar entities to knowingly allow, or consent to the acts prohibited in the preceding paragraph.

Sec. 3. In case of violation of this Act by an association, club, partnership, corporation or any other entity, the incumbent officers thereof who have knowingly participated in the violation of this Act shall be held liable.

Sec. 4. Any person found guilty by the court to have violated any of the acts herein prohibited shall suffer an imprisonment of not less than six (6) years and one (1) day but not more than eight ( years and a fine of not less than Eight thousand pesos (P8000) but not more than Twenty thousand pesos (20000): Provided, that if the offender is a foreigner, he shall immediately be deported and barred forever from entering the country after serving his sentence and payment of fine.

Ray

If you operate strictly from the Internet, then there isn't much they can do to you. If you operate on the ground over there, they may or may not lock you up, depending on the political mood at the time. That's why you won't find the typical personal introduction type services operating over there like you see in South America or the FSU.

The guy who got banned invoked the ire of one of the Philippines' leading feminists, Senator Loren Legarda. Apparently, he had listed some girls on his pen-pal Web site that were under 18 years old, so now he can never travel to the Philippines even though his wife is a Filipino citizen.

Like I said before, invest a few pesos and consult with a Filipino attorney before you invest another dime in your plan. It could save you a lot of wasted money and grief.

Ray

The free Internet dating services are everywhere now. If what you are promoting looks like nothing more than a pen-pal service, then you may be O.K. legally, but then who would be interested? There are already too many similar services that are well established and completely free to the user.

For the sites that sell addresses over the Internet, the ones that seem to draw the most attention of the Filipino authorities are the ones that openly tout their service as a way to find a Filipina wife. They hype the women as some kind of ideal wife material and display the women’s photos as if you are shopping for a prospective wife. Some or most of the sites do not screen the ladies or the men in any way at all and allow underage girls to be listed without any verification of age. The fact that the site operator is charging a fee or making a profit from the service is seen as particularly repulsive to some Filipinos and particularly the feminists.

If you can keep your site very low-key and don’t make ANY reference to marriage, you can probably get away with selling addresses on-line for a fee. I would also recommend only including women over the age of 21. But the way that you described your idea, with in-country staff to assist with meeting ladies, is clearly in violation I would think. Personally, I just don’t think the risks involved are worth the chance of making a few bucks at most.

If you want to start a unique agency in the Philippines, you might want to consider a service that matches Filipino men with foreign women. There is absolutely nothing in the law that I can see to prohibit this. With all of the Western men going overseas to find a wife, the Western women will soon either have to seek their own foreign mates or marry each other (which just might be possible real soon). Of course I’m only kidding… :-)

Ray

But all seriousness aside, your advice is good - he should be very careful how he treads.

- Jeff

- Jeff