Groups hold talks for fast recovery of 3 Cebu tourist spots

WITH at least three known tourism destinations in Cebu among the hardest hit by supertyphoon Yolanda, tourism stakeholders in Cebu are holding dialogues with the local government units to ensure a fast recovery in this areas.

They are now in talks with several other tourism organizations and government units to come up with a master plan for the recovery of the islands of Bantayan town, Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan and Camotes Island, said Cenelyn Manguilimotan, newly-appointed Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) president, during an interview last Monday.

“These are popular dive sites in Cebu and we can’t just wait and see where they go with recovering from this devastation. Bantayan Island is known for its fine white sand and has been compared to Boracay. Malapascua is a diving capital and personally I always go diving there while Camotes Island is known as an iconic island of Cebu which still has a lot of potential for growth,” said Manguilimotan, who is also the general manager of Parklane Hotel.

HRRAC officials had already talked with organizations like Cato (Cebu Association of Travel Operators) and Naitas (National Association of Independent Travel Agencies), the Lapu-Lapu City Tourism office through  Hembler Mendoza, the Cebu Provincial government officials for some projects.

Tourism Sale
One of these projects  is to do a “Tourism Sale” where all tourism stakeholders from accommodations, tour operators and airline companies  will offer discounted packages in booths that will be set up at the Boulevard in the North Reclamation Area.

The packages will include offerings in the three islands as a way to restart tourism activities in these areas.

She said that a master plan is needed in order to organize what needs to be done first to restore these areas.

“Before the typhoon, we had plans for Bohol already and had met several times with tour operators for packages that will highlight Bohol again. With this, we have to plan again to promote Bantayan, Malapascua and Camotes island,” she said.

Manguilimotan said that these restoration efforts will have to be done simultaneously with relief efforts, which is a huge task.

benefit concert
Yesterday, Manguilimotan announced  that international music artist John Ford Coley will  hold a benefit concert  on Nov. 15 for the victims of Cebu and Bohol calamities.

The artist offered to do the free concert for the victims after he saw photos and posts of the devastation in Facebook, she said.

The concert titled  “Love Overload” will be  held at the at Parklane’s Victoria Hall with Coley  performing his  hits like “Just Tell Me You Love Me,” “Sad to Belong,” “Love is the Answer.”

“All proceeds  from the concert will be equally divided among three beneficiaries: the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), a medical mission in Bohol and for the typhoon victims in eastern Visayas,” Manguilimotan said.

Instead of the usual P3,000 to P5,000 ticket prices, tickets for the benefit concert can be bought at P400 each. /With Correspondent Jose Santino S. Bunachita