At least 1,200 high school student-tourists from Japan are expected to visit Cebu this month and on February next year.
The first batch of 340 students from the Osaka Prefectural Yao High School arrived yesterday at the Mactan Cebu International Airport at 5:15 p.m.
They will be here for a three-day trip that will include an interaction with Cebuano students, island-hopping and visits to key cultural sites in Cebu.
“This is the first batch from the Osaka Prefectural Yao High School and on the 22nd and 23rd, we expect another batch of students and one more in February. This is part of the program of the Japanese government to expose their students, educate them and allow them to interact with other people,” said Araceli C. Soriano, Department of Tourism-Osaka attache, who joined the students in the trip.
Soriano cited safety and the quality of the English as a Second Language (ESL) schools in Cebu as the reasons the school officials chose Cebu for the trip.
esl hub
“The Philippines is known as an English speaking country and as an ESL hub in Asia. The school officials felt that Cebu would be a good place for the students to practice and build their confidence in English. In addition to this, it is also known as a major tourist destination,” Soriano said.
The students will be visiting the Sisters of Mary Boys town in Minglanilla and Girls town in Talisay City.
“During the visit, we expect our students to be able to interact with the students and exchange cultural information,” said Madoka Kubo, Osaka Prefectural Yao High School English teacher.
Osaka Prefectural Yao High School principal Ken Asada said this is the first time for their students to come to Cebu, and they are very excited especially with the marine activities that’s included in their itinerary.
“Cebu has a very beautiful beach. The seawalking (underwater walking) is very interesting,” said Kete Arita, 17, who tried playing the ukelele with the Lapu-Lapu City Ukelele Ensemble, who played music at the International Arrival area to welcome them.
three-year program
DOT Regional Director Rowena Montecillo said that this is a good addition to the Japanese tourists that visit the country every year.
“This is a three-year program of the Japanese government and this being the first, we really have put in preparations so that they will keep coming back,” Montecillo said.
As of June this year, Japanese tourists are the second largest foreign tourist group that visited the region with 98,851 tourists, a 9.07- percent growth from only 90,629 in the same period last year.
According to Montecillo, they expect the group to significantly impact on the number of Japanese tourists visiting the country this year.