Cordova reopening doors to tourists

THE town of Cordova is offering a host of tourism activities to woo local tourists back.

On Sunday, Aug. 30, the town will be launching its tourism recovery plan through its Dance with the Marine Life and Sing with the Mangroves tour packages as it slowly resumes its tourism activities under easing restrictions.

In an interview, Cordova Mayor Mary Therese Sitoy-Cho said these tour packages were created to spur the economy and bring back the jobs lost by the tourism stakeholders while protecting them against Covid-19 infection.

Tour packages

The Dance with the Marine Life will take guests to Alegria marine sanctuary, and the Gilutungan marine and Nalusuan marine sanctuary where they”ll enjoy snorkeling and marine watching. Excluding boat rental and the use of yellow submarine, this tour package costs P650 which covers food, souvenirs, environmental fees, use of trisikad and entrance fees of the two sanctuaries.

The Sing with the Mangroves tour package, on the other hand, highlights the sightseeing at the bird sanctuary Bakhaw Paradise and swimming and rowing at Catarman Mangrove Park. This package costs P890, which already covers food, souvenir, boat rental, trisikad fee, rowboat rental and environmental fee.

Cho believes these tour packages will help stir the interest of local tourists to revisit Cebu’s natural tourism jewels after the almost five months under strict community lockdown.

Cebu Province is now under modified general community quarantine, which refers to the transition phase between general community quarantine and the new normal.

Cho is specifically banking on the millennial travelers to lead the revival of domestic tourism as they are the ones who spend more time learning online about Covid-19 recovery efforts of tourist destinations.

“Cordova is gradually opening its tourism industry,” said Cho, adding that she personally marketed Cordova to other towns in Cebu, like Oslob, Barili and Moalboal.

Cho said the town has been beefing up its safety and health protocol to ensure that tourists visiting their area will have a meaningful stay as they re-experience nature because of the prolonged lockdown.

Wellness, nature tourism

Earlier, the Department of Tourism said it will initially promote health and wellness, farm, dive and community-based tourism with authentic experiential activities under the pandemic.

“We shall focus on domestic travel to jumpstart tourism in the country and to bring livelihood in tourism back,” said DOT Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. “We will particularly pay attention to product development as we expect changes in consumer behavior and expectations.”