Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia (File photo courtesy of Cebu Capitol PIO)
CEBU CITY – To cushion the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) threat to local tourism industry, the province of Cebu will launch a program to spur local travel and bookings in luxury hotels and establishments at extremely low rates.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Thursday said the new program dubbed as “Suroy Suroy Alang sa Sugbo” is a reverse version of the already existing Suroy Suroy Sugbo, a famous tour junket organized by the provincial capitol to promote countryside tourism.
With the new program, domestic tourists from the countryside will be given a chance to explore the Metro Cebu area and provided access to luxury hotels and resorts, shopping malls, restaurants, and day tour experiences.
Garcia said the program is meant to lessen the “adverse and painful effect” of the Covid-19 pandemic that has hit the local tourism industry, and to allow resort and hotel workers to keep their jobs in these trying times.
Occupancy rate of hotels and resorts, especially in Metro Cebu area, has dipped from 90 percent to 40 to 30 percent, with the diminishing tourist arrivals, she said.
During Thursday afternoon meeting, representatives from Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Seda Hotel, Waterfront Hotels and Casino, Crimson Hotel and Spa in Mactan, JPark Island Resort Cebu, Movenpick Hotels and Resorts, Plantation Bay Resort and Spa, Bai Hotel, Henry Hotel, Golden Prince Hotel, among others, agree to offer a triple sharing and quad-sharing accommodation at extremely low rates.
The discounted rates will be valid from March 22 to June 30. Hotel or resort stay comes with breakfast buffet and some include lunch buffet and use of facilities like the Waterpark.
Once the packages are put together, luxury hotel accommodations, mall shopping and other mall services, restaurant and day tour adventures will now become accessible even to middle class and ordinary workers to entice more local tourists.
In a series of meetings with the Hotels Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), Garcia engaged the cooperation of the hospitality and tourism stakeholders to “help the Cebuanos help their fellow Cebuanos”.
“This doesn’t guarantee huge margins of profit, which you have already enjoyed. Dili ni para makaginansya mo, but para ni nga makasweldo mo sa inyong mga empleyado (This is not to earn profit but so that you can pay your staff’s salaries),” Garcia said during the meeting.
She urged hospitality stakeholders to “turn around this crisis by letting it work in our favor, and by helping each other”.
Garcia said the Cebuanos should be productive and show others they are doing something amid the present challenge.
Meanwhile, Cebu businessmen requested bankers and utility providers for possible reprieve on their fixed expenses such as loans, water and power bills in this time of crisis due to the coronavirus disease.
They also asked the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for possible leeway in the tax payments.
A separate meeting was held between officials and representatives of the Cebu business and retailer community, officials from BIR-7, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE-7), Visayan Electric Company (VECO), Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD), and the various banks operating in Cebu. Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) President Felix Taguiam reported that many of their members, who are also members of the Hotel Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), have been badly hit by the Covid-19 situation.
“Previously, hotels and resorts get as high as 600-bed occupancy. Now, only 100 beds are occupied. From seven restaurants opened, only three remain,” Taguiam said, adding that “downtown hotels, which cater to guests that visit the city for business purposes for a night or two, only have around 20 to 30 rooms occupied from a high of 100 beds before”.
Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) President Steven Yu shared that the outbreak sparked public fear affecting the tourism industry first, which is a “big lifeblood of Cebu businesses after BPOs (business process outsourcing)”.
Cebu Bankers Club President Neil Yu said bank representatives have committed to help the Cebu business community but would still need the final decision on the strategies to be applied from their respective head offices.
“The banking industry is fully aware of the situation right now. However, we still have to bring this to the top levels to be properly reviewed,” Yu said. (PNA)
