|
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Cebu to lure 2M tourists with new hotels in Mactan
With the development of two more hotel complexes on Mactan Island and the ongoing airport expansion, Cebu, by itself, can “easily” get two million tourists a year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) chief said in an interview yesterday.
Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano cited the re-opening of the Coral Reef resort and the opening of a hotel by a Korean investor, both in Mactan, which will help attract tourists to Cebu.
“We are doing everything we can to have it (Coral Reef) opened this year,” he said.
He said Coral Reef will feature 1,000 rooms and a golf course, and will be known as the “most complete” resort complex in Mactan.
New investor
Durano also revealed a Korean investor had applied for DOT-accreditation of a 700-room hotel resort. The Korean investor is considering Hyatt, Sheraton or Intercon to manage the property, he added.
Durano hopes that by the end of the year, the Coral Reef and the Korean property will be opened.
“With that, there will be 1,700 additional rooms in Mactan alone. We’re not counting yet the Sheraton and Park Lane,” he said.
The SM group of companies, in partnership with Sheraton Hotel, built hotel building next to the SM City Cebu mall at the north reclamation area in Cebu City. The hotel remains closed, though, after the partnership between SM and Sheraton soured.
Durano said the SM group wants to finish the Mall of Asia in Manila before they move to their property in Cebu.
“But their plan is to put up a convention center and they’re looking for a new management company. It will no longer be Sheraton,” he said.
Hotel chain
SM assistant vice president for marketing in the Visayas and Mindanao Marissa Fernan said in an interview last Monday that the SM group is considering an international hotel chain to manage the idle building.
Fernan said, though, that at present the owners of SM, the Sy family, are concentrating on the Mall of Asia, which will open in May.
She added that the SM group is packaging the idle hotel building with two other properties that will be presented for consideration to the international hotel chain, which she refused to identify.
Durano pointed out that half of the 2.5 million tourists who came to the country last year visited Cebu or the Visayas.
“If our target is five million tourists by 2010, based on the present trend, as long as Cebu has the capacity, half of that five million by 2010 will be in Cebu. Again, the key is the city’s (hotel room) capacity,” he stressed.
The Asean Summit in December will give Cebu a bigger exposure, he said.
“In 1998, the Asean Tourism Forum was held here. It really opened up Cebu as an international destination. The (holding of the) Asean Summit meeting will promote Cebu more,” he said. (ALC)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (February 23, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
