Friday, August 29, 2008 Chamber lays out plan for beauty, health show
INDUSTRY players want to “overhaul” wrong notions about certain sectors in Cebu, such as spas, during the Beauty, Health and Wellness (BHW) Show in November.
The BHW Show, to be organized by the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), is a “vehicle” that will capture everything that Cebu can offer—beauty, lifestyle and wellness products and services, medical tourism and retirement homes, among others.
“The CCCI is looking for one vehicle that can cultivate Cebuano brands and support the branding image of Cebu, which is capable of offering the best of both worlds,” said Jay Yuvallos, CCCI vice president for business development and management Services Division Jay Yuvallos.
He said Cebu may not be as big as Manila and other Asian destinations, in terms of area, but it is large enough to provide complete amenities to locals and foreign visitors, and promote a healthy culture and lifestyle.
“This year, we want a holistic approach to the annual event. We want more of the lifestyle than the products,” he said.
The local chamber has been working on the upcoming BHW Show in the past three months, together with the Confederation of Philippine Exporters Foundation (Philexport) Cebu Inc., Spa and Wellness Association of Cebu (Swac) and the Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC).
In his committee presentation during the CCCI general membership meeting last Tuesday, Yuvallos said the show will be held at the Ayala Center Cebu and will showcase a wider range of exhibitors. This year’s show will also feature a special setting to upgrade the image of the event, he added.
Organizers expect at least 70 exhibitors—which will include include hotel spas, day spas, beauty salons and parlors, fitness studios and gyms, beauty clinics, restaurants, and health and wellness product makers—to participate in the show and give live demonstrations, as well as product and service sampling. Live entertainment and fashion shows, among others, will also be held during the BHW Show.
The show will carry the theme, “Experience life: Experience the pleasures of a healthy lifestyle.”
“We want to create awareness, we want to sell lifestyle. Eventually, products and services will come in and there will be business,” said Yuvallos, who is also Philexport-Cebu president. “We hope to see a rippling effect of adapting a healthy lifestyle from visitors to the show to different interest groups, tourists and businessmen.”
He said BHW Show organizers want to institutionalize the event by having November designated as beauty, health and wellness month. (NRC)
