Real estate broker sets up rainforest park in the city
He wanted to have a place where people could enjoy and learn about environment-friendly practices.
And so, real estate broker Butch Guillen decided to invest his millions in a theme park in Cebu City.
Rainforest Park Cebu soft-opened last Aug. 18 but the planning and the construction stage of the theme park took two years to implement, said Guillen, Rainforest Park Cebu president and chief executive officer.
The park has a an area of 3,000 square meters, which Guillen’s family-owned firm rented from the Sisters of the Holy Spirit.
Guillen has developed the area at the Ayala Access Road, barangay Mabolo, Cebu City into a place of fun and adventure and learning for the whole family.
“We carefully planned what to put up in the place because for a theme park, it’s a bit limited,” he said.
The visitor however can +expect the right mix of fun, dining entertainment, recreation, leisure and wellness at the park.
It boasts of the Jungle Adventure Rides, the Oceanarium Restaurant, The Tribal Bar, the Oasis Spa, Zoofari Cafe, and the Rainforest Souvenir Shop.
“The Rainforest Park Cebu is the first of its kind here in Cebu that’s really located within Cebu City making it more accessible for anyone who just wants to have fun and bond with the family and friends,
Guillen said.
The park’s garden feature different types of plants and ornaments. The Oceanarium Restaurant not only promises to serve visitors a fine lunch or dinner but also it’s a place where they can see different types and species of fishes that Guillen’s firm imported from as far as India and South America.
“In our landscaped garden we also show some environment-friendly practices like rain water collection through our catchment. And using the collected water to water all the plants,” he said.
Visitors can also enjoy a drink at the Tribal Spa or pamper themselves at the Oasis Spa and Salon.
The Zoofari Cafe offers different dishes and sandwiches for a quick snack.
However, the main attraction of the park and the favorite area of most visitors are the Jungle Adventure Rides.
Visitors can enjoy the rides for only P250 per hour. These rides include Cargo Net, Deep Bucket, Earthquake, Vines, Cat Walk, Jacob’s Ladder, Burma Bridge, Zigzag and Wall Climbing.
“We hire experts to set up the place because it’s very technical. They designed the rides and trained our staff on how to facilitate the rides,” Guillen said.
Guillen said since they opened last August, many tour groups from local schools and even schools outside Cebu visited the park for their educational tours.
“I’m very happy with the response and we are confident that we can achieve our goal of becoming a known destination here in Cebu for ecotourism,” he said.
Guillen said as a real estate broker, he didn’t have much time to manage the place and so his whole family were helping him run it.
His wife Ann and his son BJ and daughter Tara are all actively involved in the company.
BJ, 25, is into the operations while Tara, 22, takes care of the marketing.
“As soon as I have laid everything here, they will take over while I will have to focus on my main business on real estate brokerage,” he said.
He said he was planning to open another learning segment area in the park which he would call the Amazon’s Aviary and Tarzan’s House.
The planned area will display different kinds of birds.
“It will feature a lot of imported birds so that the kids can also see these birds and get to know them,” he said.
The firm’s long-term plan, however, is to set up a waterpark in the area, which will need an additional 1,000 square meters of the property.
“We are currently negotiating with the Sisters for additional space so that we can build the waterpark. With that waterpark in place, we expect more people to come especially families for bonding which is what I really like our place to be known for aside from the adventure rides and the learnings,” Guillen said.
He said he was hoping to finish the development of the area with the waterpark segment in three years.
“Tourism in Cebu is very good with many tourists from other countries now visiting us here. I hope that our investment can become another reason for more tourists to visit our place aside from other destinations that we are already known for,” Guillen said.
