Sports tourism summit slated in Cebu

Cebu - Everything is already in place for the first Sports Tourism Conference in Cebu on February 17 at the Teatro Casino of Waterfront-Cebu City Hotel and Casino.

“The reason why we held the sports tourism here because there are lots of sports organizations in Cebu and they had produced a lot of successful tournaments that reached outside Cebu. I don’t see any reason why Cebu should not boost sports tourism here. This would be a great addition to the already established tourism industry here,” said conference director Charles Lim in a press conference yesterday at The Gustavian Restaurant in Banilad, this city.

To recall, the Sports Tourism Forum was established in 2005 to create awareness of the benefits of sports in tourism. It initially served the Southeast Asian Games host cities of Cebu, Bacolod and Subic in their preparation for the successful hosting and marketing of the event.

“The objective of this forum is to evaluate sporting and tourist facilities of each destination, particularly the capabilities and standards of its stadiums, hotels and transportation and establish the sports appropriate for each destination and its viability," Lim added. “We are now going into it in a very big way.”

Lim said the summit would be a great opportunity to bring together sports and tourism professionals, officials, sports marketing and other experts to review and explore sports tourism in the region.

Top caliber experts in the field of sports and tourism will demonstrate the basics of staging of sports as a destination product and sports tourism staging, planning and management among other topics.

The invited speakers include Undersecretary Cynthia Carrion of DOT, Armand Arreza of Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Princess Galura of IMG Philippines, Hon. Jack Jackosalem of Cebu City Sports Commission, Smart Communications sports director Patrick Gregorio and Solar Sports Entertainment vice president Jude Turcuato.

Expected attendees will be sports enthusiasts and tourism professionals from various sports associations like the National Sports Association, tourism and sports commission, hotels, resorts, sports clubs, malls, event organizers, local and international tour operators, schools, sporting goods companies, dive shops, airlines, shipping lines, golf clubs, local government units and corporate sponsors.

The one-day conference is a project of Selracho and co-presented by the Department of Tourism, PAGCOR and Skal International Cebu. Also supporting the event are the city and the provincial government, Philippine Sports Commission, Cebu Pacific Air, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Gustavian Lifestyle, with Cebu daily News, Sunstar, RCTV, Panay News and The Freeman as media partners.

Registration fee is pegged at P1,200 inclusive of lunch and snacks. For inquiries, one may reach the organizers at (032) 231-7673 or at 0922-8262128 and look for Michelle De Guzman or e-mail at [email protected]. – Marigold P. Lebumfacil (THE FREEMAN)