THE Cebu Provincial Government will provide P600,000 to each of the four towns in the Camotes group of islands to aid their preparations for the May 2024 leg of the Capitol-led tourism event “Suroy Suroy Sugbo.”
The towns of Pilar, Poro, San Francisco and Tudela will host this year’s Suroy Suroy Sugbo, the flagship tourism program of the Provincial Government. It will feature a new theme, “Enchanting One Camotes,” and is scheduled on May 11-12.
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia revealed the financial assistance during a coordination meeting in San Francisco on Wednesday, Feb. 21, which was attended by tourism stakeholders of Camotes Islands, composed of tourism officers, resort owners and the town mayors.
The governor lauded the successful run of last year’s Suroy Suroy Sugbo in Camotes, noting the absence of complaints from guests regarding accommodations, unlike the mainland version of the Suroy Suroy Sugbo.
Among the guests last year were 12 regional directors of the Department of Tourism, Sen. Robin Padilla and other government officials.
Garcia challenged the mayors of the four towns to maintain, if not surpass last year’s success.
The number of guests joining the Camotes-leg of the Suroy Suroy Sugbo this year has doubled to 700, as reported by the Cebu Provincial Government on Wednesday.
Garcia said among the possible guests will be court judges who expressed interest in experiencing the program after their scheduled international conference in Cebu City in May.
The participants are composed of women lawyers and judges across Asia, according to Provincial Tourism Officer Marti Ybanez during the meeting.
She said the organizers of the international conference have coordinated with the Provincial Government to include in their itinerary the Province’s tourism program.
Ybañez added that due to the high-profile guests, preparations started early this February.
The proposed two-day itinerary starts in the island town of Pilar, and then the participants will cross to another island in the town of San Francisco for their overnight stay.
The journey continues the next day in Tudela and concludes in the town of Poro.
Suroy-Suroy Sugbo was first launched in 2005 during Garcia’s first term.