Business as usual despite jellyfish scare

DESPITE the swarms of thimble jellyfish spotted in the waters of Mactan, tourism in Lapu-Lapu City continues to flourish.

Hembler Mendoza, Lapu-Lapu City tourism officer, said they coordinated with their environmental office to conduct initiatives to prevent the jellyfish from going near areas tourists frequent.

“Tourism activities are not affected since both the resorts and our local government offices work hand in hand to put barriers like nets to keep the swarms from going near guests,” he told SunStar Cebu.

He said not all areas in Mactan were affected by the swarm.

“It’s only certain areas, but we already coordinated with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office to do some ‘cleaning’ in that area but sooner or later, the jellyfish will just go away,” he said.

Mendoza said no formal complaints were lodged with their office and they already advised stakeholders on preventive measures to ensure tourists’ safety.

“Nobody has given complaints. It is business as usual in the city of Lapu-Lapu,” he said.

Mendoza said their office and the Lapu-Lapu City Disaster Risk and Reduction Management Office under its chief, Andy Berame have already approached boatmen about the swarms.

“The boatmen will check the area first so that they will know that there’s a presence of jellyfish and they can come up with certain areas free from the swarm where the guests can swim and at a certain time. It depends on the current and tide, but it’s nothing serious,” he said.

Erik Monsanto, marketing committee head of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc., said some of their members have put up signs warning guests of the presence of swarms of jellyfish in the water.

“Based on our experience, it’s really natural for them to come up when the summer is transitioning into the rainy season. But to address concerns, members have already put up signage, warning guests to refrain from swimming due to the jellyfish,” he said.

He said they have trained personnel to guard over the guests who will decide to swim despite the warning.

“Our lifeguards have been briefed of any emergencies and our member hotels and resorts are prepared to address this concern,” he said.

Monsanto said the swarms did not affect their operations, adding that they are set to visit some of their member companies to check the measures they placed against the swarms. (JOB)

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