CCCI to work with LGUs to upgrade tourism facilities

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Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2018/01/25/ccci-work-lgus-upgrade-tourism-facilities-585735
Friday, January 26, 2018

(KOC)

THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) pledged to work closely with local government units to upgrade the tourism facilities in the province.

CCCI president Melanie Ng said the chamber has reached out to tourism associations in Cebu to find out the industry’s pressing concerns and how the private sector can help them.

Quoting Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists (Catos) president Alice Queblatin, Ng said the industry raised the lack of better tourism facilities in the countryside like rest rooms, homestays and bed and breakfast.

“Catos emphasized that these concerns need to be fixed immediately, especially that tourism in both northern and southern corridors of the province are gaining popularity, not only among locals but also foreign guests,” said Ng.

She added that the industry needs intervention if it wants to accommodate more guests now that the Terminal 2 of Mactan Cebu International Airport is scheduled to open in five months’ time.

“The (tourism) momentum is already here. We just need to do our homework,” said Ng.

Bohol and Cebu were ranked most visited leisure destinations by domestic tourists, according to a survey released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Results of the 2016 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) revealed that Bohol and Cebu ranked sixth and seventh most visited places by domestic tourists, respectively, whose main purpose of travel is for pleasure or vacation during the period of April to September.

National Capital Region landed the top spot followed by Negros Occidental, Pangasinan, Cavite and Quezon.

The most visited attractions cited in the survey were malls, churches and beaches.

Moreover, Ng said the chamber plans to initiate programs that would push Cebu’s agri-tourism position this year.

She said that aside from helping farmers and communities uplift their living status, injecting tourism into the development would bring more economic opportunities for the locals.

She mentioned the town of Dalaguete, considered the vegetable basket of Cebu, as a potential agri-tourism destination, along with the coffee farm of Tuburan.

“We will align our directions with what the sector hopes to accomplish,” said Ng.