Number of events, users at CICC rose until 2011

THE Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) could have earned more if it were designed to house exhibitions, said an official of the company that manages the facility.

“The money is in exhibition,” Philippine Exhibits and Theme Parks Corp. (Petco) chairman Jose Luis Yulo told the CICC Management Board (CICCMB) in a meeting.

The CICC, however was designed to house conventions and meetings as it was built in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit in 2007.

Exhibition halls are bigger than convention halls to accommodate installations and displays.

Yulo said a foreign participant of an exhibition spends thousands of pesos on hotel accommodation, food, entertainment and recreation, which fuel the economy and sustain jobs.

Double

He said the present spending figures are double that in 2007, which was at least P20,000 per foreign exhibitor.

But even with CICC’s design limitations, Yulo said, the number of events and users of the Capitol-owned facility increased from 2008 to 2011.

In 2007, there were 119 events held at CICC. The figure increased to 142 in 2008; 147 in 2009; 172 in 2010 and 181 in 2011. Last year, 208 events were held at the CICC.
There was also an increase in the number of users, Yulo said.

In 2007, there were 122,178 which increased to 266,793 in 2012.

Election

There was a decrease in number of users between 2009 and 2011, which Yulo blamed on the elections.

While Yulo blamed the centralized airconditioning system for the high cost of electricity consumed by CICC, he could not explain why the facility’s water supply was
more costly than the Metro Cebu Water District’s rates.

He said the utilities were already in place at CICC when Petco was tasked to manage and market it.

Meanwhile, Mayor Jonas Cortes welcomed the Provincial Board (PB) resolution supporting the Mandaue City Government’s plan to use the CICC, even though the idea did not come from the local government.

“Di sad mi ingon nga kana among giapas nga mahimong government center kay duna na mi plano. In fact, duna nay mga design na nasugdan(CICC is not our only option for the government center. We have even started some designs),” Cortes told reporters yesterday.

Sites

Cortes said the Mandaue City Government also considered that the CICC is subject to litigation.

Mandaue is eyeing the site of the old Mandaue public market and a 14-hectare lot in Barangay Labogon for the government center, which Cortes hoped will be constructed late this year or next year.

PB Member Arleigh Sitoy, author of the resolution, said that as board member representing the sixth district, he supports Mandaue’s intention to buy the CICC.

“With that is the acknowledgment that I am not the one who will decide. Thus, there is nothing to reconcile because I will not take it personally if the decision does not conform to my stand,” Sitoy said in a text message to Sun.Star Cebu.

Acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale earlier admitted that Capitol was considering the possibility of selling the CICC as it was not earning. But the possibility that it will be used for meetings related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in 2015, ruled out the option.