He is optimistic that the country will hit its target visitor arrival this year, especially in Cebu, due to the province’s successful hosting of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
Durano also announced that the government has agreed to allocate P800 million for the tourism sector.
“This is the first year that we have a new budget,” he said in an interview last Friday during his visit in Cebu City for the opening of Paseo.
Durano said the budget for tourism has not increased in the last four years.
The budget allocation is for DOT’s international road shows in countries like Australia, Russia, Germany and India, to promote the Philippines as one of Asia’s premier vacation hubs.
He said DOT’s marketing team is also reviving promotions in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.
To accommodate the expected influx of tourists, especially in Central Philippines, there will be 3,000 additional new hotel rooms available this year in Boracay, Bohol, Cebu and Palawan, Durano had said earlier.
Of the 3,000 rooms, he said 1,000 will be in Cebu alone and will be of international three-star to five-star quality.
Earlier, SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SMPHI) president Hans Sy said the company has zeroed in on a single international hotel management chain that will finish its first hotel project in Cebu.
SMPHI, in partnership with Sheraton Hotel, built a 470-room hotel building next to the SM City Cebu mall but the hotel remains closed, though, after the partnership between SM and Sheraton soured.
International
Durano said the three other international hotel and resort chains that plan to set up facilities in the Visayas include Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts, Raffles Hotels and Resorts and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.
Banyan Tree is found in Thailand, Indonesia, China, Maldives, China and Seychelles while Raffles Hotels are found in destinations like Singapore, Beverly Hills, Beijing and Cambodia.
Durano lauded both the private and public sectors for joining the bandwagon in promoting tourism.
He said the Bureau of Immigration and the Department of Foreign Affairs now have tourism promtion initiatives.
He also noted that “nontraditional investors,” like the Metrobank Group of Companies is also investing in the tourism industry.
The Marco Polo Plaza in Cebu, formerly known as Cebu Plaza Hotel, is the first hotel venture of the Metrobank group. (MMM)
