Cebu wants to be host of tourism confab 2010

Cebu wants to replicate four years from now the role it would be playing in the 12th ASEAN Summit in December.

Being a major tourist destination, Cebu will bid for the hosting of the annual international gathering of tourism leaders in 2010, a tourism executive said.

SKAL International-Philippines president Charles Lim said that Cebu's hosting of the ASEAN Summit is added advantage for the province to win the bid. Lim added that the World Congress of the tourism-oriented organizations gathering around 1,500 delegates worldwide would open wide opportunities for the country if Cebu gets to host the global event.

"If Cebu gets to host the event, it would surely boost the tourism and travel industry of the province and the whole country," he said.

This year's world congress on tourism would be held in Pattaya, Thailand followed by Antalya, Turkey in 2007 and Taipei, Taiwan in 2008.

Lim said he plans to bid for the 2010 congress and banks on the growing SKAL membership in the country to support him in this interest of hosting the international activity. The SKAL's World Congress gathers delegates to elect a seven-member executive committee that governs the organization. The gathering also allows members first-hand observation of the travel and tourism potential around the world.

In the Philippines, there are about 450 individual members of SKAL's four active chapters in Manila, Makati, Cebu and Davao.

Earlier, SKAL International Makati chapter president Robert Joseph enumerated the benefits of hosting the international event to the local economy.

He noted that with each foreign tourist expected to spend between US$750 and US$1,000 for the three-night-four-day stay in Cebu, a minimum of P50 million will go to the local economy once Cebu gets to host the SKAL World Congress with 1,500 delegates.

However, Joseph said that Cebu faces a greater challenge, which is how to provide a good impression to the SKAL delegates who are front liners of the tourism industry. "Cebu, if it wins the bid, will have the opportunity to promote Cebu directly to the industry representatives," Joseph said.

SKAL is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world that is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry.

Founded in 1932, SKAL promotes global tourism and friendship among its 22,000 members in 500 clubs throughout 90 countries around the globe.

According to Lim, SKAL is going to expand its membership in the Philippines and prioritize in developing chapters in other cities like Bacolod and Subic.

He added that they are also moving towards forming a "young" SKAL circle, targeting the young professionals aged 29 and below.

Membership of SKAL is open to managers or executives directly involved in tourism management, sales and promotions, in specified travel and tourism businesses, including transportation (airlines, cruise lines, railways, ferries), travel and tour operators and agencies, tourism organizations and travel media, among others. - Wenna A. Berondo/MEEV