IN support of local entrepreneurs, hotelier Benedict Que is encouraging more hotels in Cebu to showcase local products inside their establishments.
Que, president and chief executive officer of Golden Prince Hotel and Suites, said he will start this initiative by placing select delicacies and souveneir items inside a 10-square-meter space inside his hotel located along Acacia St. corner Archbishop Reyes Ave. in Cebu City.
The items will be sourced from graduates of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cebu Kapatid Mentor Me (KMEE) mentees. The specific arrangements are yet to be discussed with the participating micro and small enterprises (MSEs).
Que is one of pool of the KMME mentors who serves a panelist who critics and reviews the participants’ business plans.
To grow and promote KMME graduates, the executive urged his colleagues in the hotel industry to follow the initiative to promote local products.
“I will start it myself so they will be convinced to follow,” said Que, adding that a pasalubong center in Golden Prince will be operational by the end of the year. He said he is also in talks with the Hotel, Resort, and Resort Association of Cebu (HRRAC).
Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) vice president for external affais Teodoro Locson Jr. said the chamber’s hotel group has been made aware of this plan and that there are ongoing negotiations.
In addition, CCCI, where DTI Cebu sources most of its KMME mentors, is looking into the possibility of tapping supermarkets to allocate a space for KMME-mentored products.
“We feel that we have to let them practice what they learn and give them opportunity to find investors,” said Locson.
Exposing them to public places like retail chains, said Locson, will expand the MSMEs’ market, and may find potential investors who can finance the needed capital for expansion.