Friday, August 24, 2007
Cebu ripe for tourism: Ace
A RECORD three million foreign tourists are projected to visit the Philippines this year, if the arrivals trend from January to June continues, making 2007 a potentially “monumental year,” Tourism Secretary Ace Durano said yesterday.
“In terms of tourist spending, apart from government receipts, we are looking at close to US$3 billion (about P150 billion) to be pumped into the economy,” Durano told participants at the Sun.Star Economic Forum 2007 yesterday at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel.
Cebuano entrepreneurs can push tourism further, said the former congressman, who appealed for support for the Cebu Tourism Vision.
Its target: attract one million foreign tourists to the province by 2012, which Durano admits would mean performing “at the higher end of the possible growth rate.” In the past three years, foreign arrivals in Cebu have grown between 10 and 13 percent. To hit its target, barely five years away, Cebu would have to draw in 13.25 percent more tourists every year.
He said it’s high time tourism players focused on high-growth emerging markets like China, Russia and India.
“I am confident that just by broadening our market base, we can hit our targets… (but) we also have to broaden the product base of Cebu. With the new business hotels and the Cebu International Convention Center, it’s about time Cebu promoted itself as a destination for international meetings,” said Durano.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (August 24, 2007 issue)
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