Wednesday, May 30, 2007 Cebu needs more public toilets By Malou M. Mozo Sun.Star Staff Reporter
APART from providing world-class hotel and resort accommodations, Cebu’s readiness for the influx of foreign tourists will be judged according to the availability of public toilets in far flung areas.
“We need clean public toilets, especially when promoting countryside tourism,” said Jenny Franco, National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas)-Cebu president.
Naitas is an organization of independent travel agencies in the country with 1,100 individual members and 17 chapters.
Franco said the need for clean and accessible public toilets is “crucial” based on the previous experience of the Suroy-suroy sa Sugbo (Suroy-suroy).
Suroy-suroy, an initiative of the Cebu Provincial Government, in partnership with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), aims to promote rural tourism and entrepreneurship.
Franco told Sun.Star Cebu that tourists and tourism stakeholders had to make-do with public toilets in gasoline stations and, in some cases, they had to approach private households since there were no public toilets available.
Identify
However, she said Naitas is already in talks with the Cebu Provincial Government in identifying key municipalities in the northern and southern part of the province where communal toilets will soon be in place.
“It’s already part of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s tourism plans. Now that the election is over, I think we’ll resume with that maybe in July or August,” she said.
Franco said the Provincial Government has identified Carcar, Argao, Dalaguete, Boljoon and Santander as “usual tourist stops” in the south, as well as Danao, Carmen, Sogod, Bogo, Daan Bantayan and Bantayan Island in the north.
In order to motivate citizens in the urban areas to maintain the cleanliness of these toilets, Franco said tourism stakeholders and the public sector are encouraging people in these municipalities to put up convenient stores and establish cooperatives.
“We want to make them full stakeholders of tourism and develop pride in themselves,” she said.
Developing tourism entrepreneurship, especially outside the metropolitan district, Dr. Mila Espina said, is one of the objectives of this year’s Cebu Business Month (CBM).
Espina, who is the chairperson of the CBM Asean Tourism Congress, said tourism has gone beyond the usual concept of beaches and landmarks but is now redefined to include the citizenry, culture and spirituality.
“This is what CBM intends to promote, that Cebu is beyond beaches, it is rich in culture and spirituality,” she told a press conference yesterday during the 888 News Forum held at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.
In line with this, the CBM celebration has highlighted the Suroy-suroy, among others, as one of the major tourism activities. Objectives
The objectives of the CBM Tour Cebu are to bring in more tourists, maximize information networking, marketing and promotions, link Asia and the world, reinvent tour packages and improve services and establish tourism circuits in tandem with CBM.
CBM 2007 tourism activities scheduled to begin next month will include the CBM Asean tourism congress, International Media Forum, 3rd Culture of Tourism, Shop Cebu, Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, and cultural shows in malls.
The CBM, which started in 1991, is an annual trade and industry festival that provides a productive venue for businessmen, industry associations, local and foreign investors, tourists, representatives of both local government units and National Government, to converge.
This year’s theme is “Let’s Go Cebu!,” which reflects the Cebuano’s readiness to rise to the challenge of globalization.
