Influx of wealthy travelers to rise

There may be a general slowdown of the worldwide tourism activities this year, but Cebu is expected to continually attract the sophisticated travelers, as it has improved its reputation as a premium destination.

Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Joseph "Ace" Durano urged hotels and resort operators in Cebu to brace themselves for the influx of wealthy or high-end tourists that will boost Cebu's tourism, amid the global economic turbulence.

"Cebu will not be affected by the slowdown. Premium tourists will continue to travel," Durano said adding that this segment of the market will boost Cebu's tourism performance and will save the province from being affected by the global travel slowdown.

Tourism related facilities that continue to "make money" are those that are designed to accommodate wealthy travelers, such as those hotels that are five-star and the triple-AAA resorts.

Because of this, Durano said there is a need for Cebu to offer luxurious accommodations, such as those facilities which services are more than that of five-star standard.

Although, in the tourism industry, there is no such thing as six-star accreditation, Durano said luxurious accommodation that will go over five-star is badly needed for Cebu.

 "For Cebu to become a 'legitimate' world-class destination, we need to have wide choices of five-star to more luxurious accommodations. In this way, it will open up more market seeking for luxurious accommodations," he said.

Durano mentioned that the recent proclamation of Marco Polo Plaza Cebu as the first five-star business hotel in Cebu could help boost the positioning of the province as "premium" and world-class destination.

Durano hopes that more hotels will be able to apply for five-star accreditation in order to support Cebu's potential as premium destination.

He said the move of Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa to expand and establish an exclusive resort accommodation, that is being constructed right now, is good for Cebu.

The existence of Abaca that offers over 30 exclusive room accommodation, of which service is considered as "six-star" should be duplicated in order to maximize attention from the affluent traveling market worldwide.

The massive retrenchments in the United States, and Europe, may affect some tourism destination all over the world, but not for Cebu.

According to Durano, those that are retrenched as mostly rank and file employees and this group of traveling market will cut-off their vacation plans abroad.

Cebu, on the other hand, will continue to lure the middle-executive and senior executives that will continue with their travel plans. Moreso, the rich travel enthusiasts, whose vacation plans are part of their lifestyle routine.

Lower classification hotels and resorts may also get encouraging tourism performance, as domestic travel is seen to further strengthen this year, as more Filipinos are postponing their out-of-the-country travel plans, and pursue their vacation get-away within the country.