After Suroy Suroy, Cebu aims to make rural sites ‘world class’

The Suroy Suroy Sugbo program was lauded as a good example of what the National Tourism Development Framework wants to achieve.

Tourism Assistant Secretary Ramon Enerio III gave this statement during the Tourism Congress yesterday at the Cebu International Convention Center.

“Suroy Suroy Sugbo illustrates how a program could succeed with public-private partnership. Congratulations, Cebu for this successful endeavor,” he said of the rural tourism program of the Cebu provincial government and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).

The program is a “thematic tourism highway”, the first that he’s seen, and should be duplicated in other parts of the country, said Eddie Nuque, assistant secretary at the Office of the President.

The program, which brings busloads of guests, many of them balikbayans and foreigners to experience scenic towns from north to south Cebu, was discussed in the one-day congress attended by more than 700 delegates.

The topic was creating a world-class brand for Cebu by empowering countryside stakeholders and giving them the opportunity to capitalize on public-private partnership to ensure that visitors could have a “more fun in Cebu” experience.

Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said that through the Suroy Suroy Sugbo, local government units and stakeholders from the countryside developed “pride of place.”

“It was through the program that LGUs in the countryside defined and discovered their tourism potential, what makes them special,” said Garcia.

She said that the Cebu provincial government would continue to push tourism and recently struck a partnership with the CCCI for another program called Turismo Sugbo.

“This program will help us move forward to establish a global brand for Cebu with destinations that offer the best experience for our tourists from the moment they arrive until they leave,” said Garcia.

Turismo Sugbo is a two-year program which aims to complement the Suroy Suroy Sugbo program, said Tess Chan, Tourism Congress chairperson.

The program will involve student evaluators in different schools to work with municipalities in creating or improve tourism packages for various towns.

Twelve teams composed of the academe and mentors went around evaluating their tourism-related establishments, food and services.

Some teams presented their initial findings yesterday. The team for Sogod in north Cebu had the slogan “So Good in Sogod”.