BY April, the northern Cebu town of Carmen will never be the same again.
A former sugar plantation will become Cebu’s next tourism destination as Cebuano businessman Michel Lhuillier will open the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park to the public, in time for summer.
Since its soft-opening at the start of this year, the 170-hectare safari (first phase) has been accepting up to 600 guests during weekends.
As it moves closer to its official opening, the management has opened the safari thrice a week—Friday, Saturday and Sunday—for preview.
“Come April, we are looking at operating five to six days a week and will be accepting up to 3,000 guests,” said Eduard Jarque Loop, vice president and chief operating officer of the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park.
The safari forms part of the 2,000-hectare property of the Lhuillier family in Barangay Corte, Carmen, which the businessman himself slowly converted into a safari and adventure park nine years ago.
This new tourism destination, touted as the largest safari in the Philippines, was patterned after the San Diego Zoo in the United States. The Cebu Safari currently showcases more than a thousand animals from 111 different species and over a million 30-year-old orchids in its collection, among others.
“I tell you, this will be a different world. You will really be entertained,” said Lhuillier in past interviews.
The pawnshop tycoon has brought to Cebu tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, zebras, camels, different specie of birds, crocodiles, among others. He has also tapped life science group consultants from Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Czech Republic to look after the well-being of the animals.
Loop said they intend to bring in more animals by the end of April like white lions, flamingos, four more giraffes and more African animals.
He said the opening of Cebu Safari and Adventure Park is more than just lifting and boosting Cebu’s image as a tourism destination, but is also about improving the quality of livelihood in the town of Carmen.
Located next to Danao City, Carmen is mainly an agricultural town. During the pre-war period, Carmen was one of the Cebu towns known for its sugarcane farms.
About 85 percent of workers employed in Cebu Safari are from Carmen.
“We’ve initially hired 209 employees for the safari alone, and we will increase the employment count as soon as we introduce more activities here,” he said.
Newly-hired Jason Velez, a hotel and restaurant management (HRM) graduate from CTU-Carmen, expressed his excitement over his new job as a tour guide.
Velez, who previously worked in a fast-food chain, likes his job at the safari knowing he can put into practice what he learned in school.
“I like it here because you can learn a lot of things. Unlike in the fast food chain where you are confined, working here expands your horizon,” he said.
“We’re happy to make people happy,” the young trainee said, who confessed he saw himself working at the safari long-term.
“We’d really want this place to be known so we could welcome more guests,” he said.
Alice Queblatin, president of Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists (Catos), said the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park is a welcome development in Cebu’s tourism industry.
“For sure, the local market will love this new product, more so the foreign guests, as this park offers something different. You can find animals in a natural setting, running around,” said Queblatin. “There is likewise a rich collection of flora here.”
Besides completing the support infrastructure like power and making their kitchen operational, works are also underway for the four adventure rides which they will initially offer this year.
Loop said they will be offering a 1.3-kilometer zipline ride, bicycle zipline, obstacle course, and a giant swing ride 35 meters above the mountain.
The management will also be putting in place a 60-suite room accommodation facility that is slated for completion by 2020.
With the park now in place, Loop hopes the residents in Carmen will be encouraged to venture into tourism-related businesses.
He said support facilities should be in place in town like hotels and transportation so more tourists can visit Carmen and not only explore the safari but also other equally interesting attractions in town.