Calamity forces hotel booking cancellations

THE 7.2 magnitude earthquake that shook Cebu and Bohol last week caused cancellations in the hosting of an international event and hotel bookings.

The World Eco Tourism Conference scheduled in the middle of November was moved to February, Radisson Blu Hotel director of sales and marketing Ann Olalo said yesterday.

“An international education contingent also postponed their event to next year. We also moved some of our (events) to other Cebu City hotels for the past week as we expedite repairs for the cosmetic damage the hotel sustained,” she said.

Olalo said it’s business as usual at Radisson Blu Hotel as all their facilities are operational.

Plantation Bay Resort and Spa public relations officer Johannah Patalinjug also said they got cancellations for 150 rooms mostly booked by South Koreans.

“Majority or 95 percent of the cancellations were from the Koreans and only one booking from a Filipino guest. The bookings will be rescheduled without fee,” she said.

Now the resort is operating at a little over 50 percent occupancy rate, with mostly Japanese and Korean tourists.

Japanese not bothered

“We were amazed by our Japanese tourists because they were not bothered at all by the quake. We did not get any cancellations from the Japanese,” she said.

Patalingjug said they conducted inspections of their buildings right after the quake.

They often receive inquiries from guests about damage in their resort.

“We tell them that we still get aftershocks every now and then and assure them that our property did not sustain any structural damage,” she said.

Crimson Resort and Spa resident manager Kristopher Quadros also confirmed cancelled bookings in their hotel.

“Close to 120 reservations got rescheduled to other dates as we do not allow for cancellation with the resort being fully operational. About 90 percent of the cancellations were from the Korean group,” Quadros said.

Assurance

Marco Polo Plaza Hotel public relations manager Kyra Cabaero said they got postponements of bookings.

Hotel Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) president Cenelyn Manguilimotan said most of their resort members got cancellations from Korean groups.

Manguilimotan said only one function was cancelled since the participants are from Manila.

A certification indicating that there is no structural damage in their hotels are requested by tour operators.

“They need to post it in their respective websites or show it to their guests as assurance.” Manguilimotan told Cebu Daily News.

He added that HRRAC had activated their disaster management strategies to ensure the safety of their guests.