Cebu is opening its doors to more Chinese tourists with the inaugural flight of China Southern Airlines from Guangzhou city last June 9.
This development marks another step for the further growth of Cebu's tourism industry as well as its neighboring province of Bohol, said Department of Tourism undersecretary Phineas Alburo.
“When you have these number of tourists coming in to Cebu every week, how much will this contribute to the local economy? This is truly positive for us and we hope to establish more partnerships with other cities in the future,” he said.
DOT hosted the welcome luncheon for the first 130 Chinese tourists at the Laguna Garden Cafe in Ayala Center on Friday.
DOT has partnered with GZL International Travel Services, a Guangzhou-based travel agency, in carrying out the chartered flight agreement.
The agreement will run until December 2009, after which, Alburo said they will be looking into the possibility of opening chartered flights with other cities or renew the agreement.
There will be two weekly flights going to Cebu every Monday and Thursday. Return flights to Guangzhou are scheduled every Tuesday and Friday.
“We are expecting 300 tourists to come every week with these chartered flights,” he told Cebu Daily News in interview.
Alburo said the direct flight from Guangzhou to Cebu is less than four hours with no stopovers.
Sarah Choi Siu Ha, DOT market representative and assistant project manager for Hong Kong, Macau and South China, said these tourists have heard about Cebu's beaches and rich natural resources and are interested to experience the “sand, sea and sun” of the province.
“Philippines as a tourism destination is included in the top ten hit countries among browsers of the leading Chinese internet portal, Baidu,” the DOT said in a statement furnished to CDN.
Guangzhou is the capital city of Guangdong province with about the same population as the Philippines at nearly 90 million.
While there are beaches in Guangdong, she said, Guangzhou is a landlocked city so residents are “excited to experience island-hopping and snorkeling” in Cebu and Bohol.
The 130 tourists are billeted at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in the next five days. Most of these tourists are first-time travelers to the Philippines.
Alburo said these tourists travel with families with the head of the family working in a top position for a manufacturing company or an information and communication technology firm.
More than 65 of these tourists left for Bohol yesterday for a two-day tour and will be back in Cebu on Monday before leaving for Guangzhou next week, said Choi Siu Ha.
Alburo said DOT is engaged in a joint promotion program with GZL Travel Services. This enabled DOT to penetrate Guangzhou, which has 10 to 12 million population.
“It's a win-win agreement because if you partner with a big travel agency like this they will really go out of their way to do business with the department.”
“We give them the materials and some funds and they push the promotion of our destinations in their brochures and leaflets,” added Alburo.
source: www.inquirer.net
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