Except for a hardy few in San Fernando town, there were no flag-waving students to welcome 140 tourists at the start of the Capitol’s Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo Southern Getaway tour last Wednesday.
“The only thing I asked (local government officials) is not to use the students. I don’t want them to miss their classes. If they want to set up a festive atmosphere they can always put in banners,” said acting Cebu Gov. Agnes Magpale.
The tour’s itinerary that was prepared six days before emphasized Magpale’s “less is more” mantra.
This meant allowing tourists to spend more time in a community watching shows, swimming in the beach and dining at one’s leisure.
It also means less time on the bus, Magpale said. Joining San Fernando were Argao, Oslob, Santander, Samboan, Badian, Ronda, Barili, and Talisay City.
“The objective of Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo is to bring tourism to the countryside. We also want the local government units to have a sense of pride of place,” Magpale said.
A three-day tour package in southern Cebu costs P7,000 to P11,000 depending on the type of accommodation they can afford. The amount covers transportation, food and entrance to destinations.
Tourists were serenaded with Cebuano music at the Plaza Rizal in San Fernando where they were served native fare like dried danggit (fish), skinless longanisa (native sausage), barbecue and steamed camote (root crop) for breakfast.
Magpale joined the tourists during their stop in Argao and Santander.
Dancers of the Argao Performing Arts welcomed the guests in their ruby red ruffled La Torta festival costumes as they arrived at the Cabecera de Argao. They were served torta, the town’s specialty cake made of eggyolk and local wine. The guests were toured at the nearby museum and the 250-year old church of St. Michael the Archangel.
They were bused to Oslob town where they crossed the sea towards Sumilon island for a kayaking, trail and caving experience.
Three hours later, the tourists returned to mainland Cebu and welcomed to Santander town by the Santander Performing Arts group.
Guests joined in the dancing while they waited for their grilled seafood dinner in Sanayon.
On their second day, the guests were treated to a rondalla performance by students of Samboan National High School in front of the Samboan museum in barangay Poblacion and sampled the native delicacy ‘palagsing’ made of coconut, saksak and sugar. They headed to Badian town to swim for more than an hour at the Kawasan falls.
They also dropped by St. Gregory the Great in Ginatilan town to visit the hometown of newly canonized San Pedro Calungsod. “I like the new concept because locals know a lot of their place better than guides from the city. We are more relaxed unlike before that we can only stay for a few minutes,” said tourist Paul Wing.
While some delegates missed the festive mood of past Suroy-Suroy tours, Magpale said they are cutting down on costs without sacrificing the quality of their offerings.