Cebu wows Chinese tourists

CEBU, Philippines - The initial batch of 180 Chinese tourists from Guangzhou, China was quite impressed with the facilities, sights, and the warm hospitality of Cebu and the locals during their entire four-night/five-day tour of Cebu which ended mid-July this month.

Landmarks visited included the Fort San Pedro, the Sto. Niño Basilica, Casa Gorordo Museum, Taoist Temple, Pari-an Heritage Monument, the Oslob whale shark escapade, island hopping, shopping, and many others. Some also went on a day-trip of Bohol for its eco-tourism wonders such as the Chocolate Hills, the Loboc River Cruise, the tarsier sanctuary, butterfly farm, and others.

Harold’s Hotel, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Mandarin Plaza Hotel, Hotel Elizabeth, and Alpa City Suites, were the choice hotels for most of the Chinese guests. The upscale few opted for Shangri-La Mactan Resort & Spa and Movenpick Resort for their specific needs.

The Chinese tourists landed at Mactan airport on board a PAL Express Airbus 320, the first of twice-weekly regular charter flights between Guangzhou and Cebu. PAL Express leaves Mactan airport every Thursday at 9:20 pm and Every Sunday at 12:30 am. From Guangzhou, the plane leaves for Mactan airport every 12:30 am every Friday and Monday. These flights are part of a continuous marketing program going back several years and re-launched just this month till the year-end.

Group profile consisted mainly of families and honeymooners, similar to previous thousands of Dong Fang Group tours in the past. These market categories have proven to be quite welcoming due to their inclination for wholesome leisure activities and their undemanding nature.

“The returning visitors, comprising about a fifth of the group, were amazed at the total upgrade of the entire gamut of product quality and services. This covered the cuisine, the scenery, and especially, the overall experience. Another thing they noted was the fact that many condos, hotels, subdivisions, and convenience stores sprung up out of seemingly nowhere. All these speaks much of the aggressive economic and tourism growth of Cebu,” stated Alan Dino, Senior Vice President of The Dong Fang Group.

The direct charter flights was brought about after a series of vigorous marketing efforts spearheaded by The Dong Fang Group, a tourism and leisure company with offices based in Mandaue City, Cebu, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou, China.

Of Itineraries and Activities

Dino mused that some of the repeat visitors even acted as “big brother” guides for the new tour participants, thus attesting to Cebu’s strong appeal as a significant tourism magnet to repeat visitors.

The tour group was also exposed to more high-end facilities, accommodations and merchandise in Cebu so as to highlight the wide genre of Cebu’s varied services in catering to more tourism markets, along with their respective tastes and preferences.

For example, they enjoyed shopping at SM City Cebu, Ayala Center, duty-free outlets, and Islands Souvenirs shops for a wide selection of goods and merchandise. The island-hopping adventure and lunch picnic was a pleasurable and novel experience for many, especially for the newcomers, since Guangdong does not have as many, nor as clean beaches as Cebu.

Dino also pointed out that Guangdong Broadcasting Network, a giant media company, also accompanied the tour group while paying its own way. They were interested to see Cebu firsthand to chronicle their experiences, sights and landmarks in order to showcase to the entire Guangdong province, as well as to the rest of the People’s Republic of China.

DOT Viewpoint

In an earlier event consisting of afternoon native cocktails held at the Mandarin Plaza Hotel in Cebu, Tourism Regional Director Rowena Montecillo declared her other preferences for the MICE, or Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions market to hold their events in Cebu.  This is for purposes of increasing tourism revenues and forming networking ties with the business community, many leaders of which possess Chinese lineage.  (PR)

Another targeted market is the English as a Second Language, or ESL students who wish to improve their English comprehension and literacy skills. Montecillo revealed that she would much prefer the Chinese students attend classes in Cebu to help the local economy rather than the usual practice of exporting local teachers to teach English in China.

“I also want to emphasize the rich cultural heritage of Cebu, the oldest city in the Philippines. I know many Chinese are interested in culture. Aside from these, we also have the eco-adventure attractions for all ages,” she beamed.

With the monthly arrivals of thousands of Chinese visitors to Cebu, she expressed confidence that the national DOT office would hit the targeted 5.5 million arrivals for this year and the 10-M target in 2016.

“Tourism is now the most important economic driver of the country as stressed by President Aquino. We look forward to the establishment of more tourism infrastructure and support activities from the local and national government,” she added.

Hosting the afternoon event was the Ho family led by Anton Ho as the hotel chair, his wife Ellen, and their son Harvey Ho, the hotel general manager. (FREEMAN)