THE Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) has “strengthened Cebu’s edge in the international tourism market,” an official said.

Marisa Nallana, CICC managing consultant, said if the center had existed in the 1980s, it could have helped improve the economy of the province.

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Nallana of the Philippine and Themeparks Corp. said the professional exhibitions and events management company has received requests and inquiries since the 1980s from national and international clients on the possibility of holding events in Cebu.

Venue

Today, Cebu can expect more international events—conferences and exhibitions—to happen in the province after organizations from other parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, from Manila and from other countries, such as Malaysia, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, India, Singapore and Canada, among others, have visited the CICC as a possible venue for their events.

Some of the confirmed events are the Philippine-Russian business conference and the International Convention on Quality Control Circles 2009.

Near

CICC, which has placed Cebu on the map as a center for international trade, tourism and culture in Asia, is near key areas in the province.

It is 9.5 kilometers away from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, three kilometers away from the Cebu Business Park, 3.6 kilometers away from the Cebu International Port, 7.6 kilometers away from the Mactan Economic Zone (Mez) 1 and eight kilometers away from Mez 2.

Areas

It has three show areas at the ground level, two summit exhibit halls, six meeting rooms, two plenary halls and a VIP lounge.

The CICC is a structure built by the Cebu Provincial Government, led by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, in time for the 12th Asean
summit and the 2nd East Asia Summit in 2006 at around $10 million.

The three-storey structure, with a gross floor area of 28,000 square meters, is situated on a 308-hectare land in Mandaue City.

Other events

After the Asean summit, CICC hosted big events, such as the Visayas-leg of Go Negos-yo, the Rotary International Multi-District conference, National Convention of Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers Convention, Philippine International Travel Fair and Motorshow International Show 2007.

CICC also became the favorite venue for special events, such as anniversary and Christmas parties, of companies like Aboitiz Co., Coca Cola Bottlers Corp., Sykes Inc. and M. Lhuillier Group of Companies. (PR)