P500-m resort Medellin resort seen to reel in more Koreans

A P500 million investment for a golf course and 5-star resort is expected to bring in more Korean retirees and tourists in Medellin town, northern Cebu—which is already enjoying a 100 per week arrival from its existing golf course dubbed as the “Korean village.”

The investor, a Korean businessman, is targeting “rich” Koreans  aged 40 and above as well as retirees for its golf course and resort.

However, the businessman is also targeting younger tourists and golf enthusiasts for his facility.

The golf course and resort, which lies on on a 60-hectare lot with rolling hills, is a former sugar plantation flatland near the shore in Medellin.

“With its opening next year, we are targeting to become the Golf Capital of Cebu province,” said Mayor Ricardo Ramirez of the Korean businessman’s investment.

The proposed 18-hole Queen’s Island Golf Club in barangays Lamintak Sur and Lamintak Norte which saw construction since January this year is expected to be finished by March 2012.

Laborers were still seen rushing construction work at the site during the weekend. The workers employed by  the construction company alone has brought down unemployment in the town, said Mayor Ramirez.

He said he got the assurance that local residents would be given priority once the facility would become operational.

The golf course was supposed to be constructed ahead of the six-story resort but the investor decided to build both facilities simultaneously.

“The Koreans have already employed several hundreds of people there (in the construction site) in fact the San Miguel and Coca-Cola distributors have already told that in so many years…the place maoy pinaka dako og consumption sa softdrinks,” said Ramirez.

In the existing Mercedes Plantation Golf Course and Country Club in barangay Dayhagon caters mostly Korean elderly tourists who usually head straight to Medellin from the Mactan airport without stopping over Metro Cebu.

Adjacent to the Mercedes golf course are secured town houses and cottages which extend to the shoreline available for use of the golfers.

Ramirez said these type of tourists would be the spending-type unlike the younger Koreans.

The mayor said that Medellin had become attractive to golf enthusiasts because of the flat terrain with an oceanic view.

“These Koreans (investor) have been playing golf before in Medellin in the Korean Village. They made friends with the local people and started to campaign in Korea about it,” he said.

In the new facility, Ramirez said the Korean investors were closely monitoring the construction even with the minutest details by hiring Korean architects for building architecture and layout.

“Even the grass that they are using diri sa golf course is platinum. It comes from the United States. They say they want it better than Mimosa,” he said.

Ramirez said that these developments would be a big help for the municipality.

“If you visit the villages now, you would not see more bystanders unlike before because they have already been hired as construction workers. When the hotel start operations there would be more needed,” said Ramirez in Cebuano.

“Now I am very proud to say that we will be the golfing capital of Cebu. We are the only town to have two golf courses,” he said.