FOREIGN TOURISTS EYED
A 38-year-old Korean national, who fell in love with Cebu after her first visit to the Queen City of the South more than a decade ago, has set up an events planner business as a way to share her love for Cebu to other foreign tourists.
Alice Jang said after traveling to different countries for a few years after her first study visit here in 2007, she decided to return to Cebu in 2010 and to stay for a while here
Since she planned to stay longer here, she decided to open her own events planner business called “Eventually.”
Missing Cebu
She recalled why she came back here in Cebu after travelling to different countries since 2007.
“And then I missed Cebu so I came back,” she said.
She has been living in Cebu since 2010 and admits that she does not plan on leaving the place and going back to South Korea.
She also got married to her long-time Korean boyfriend three years ago. Her husband now works also in Cebu as a Vice President of an ESL (English as Second Language) school here.
Adopted Cebuana
Jang said the relaxed lifestyle and the kind people of Cebu made her decide to be an adopted Cebuana.
It’s her love for Cebu that she also wants to share to other tourists.
For one, she plans to organize weddings for tourists especially the Chinese nationals.
“Some Chinese have weddings in other countries which are very expensive. I have a friend in China who is a wedding planner. We are planning to organize weddings in Cebu and Bohol where there are nice beaches,” said Jang, who studied in Youngsan University in Busan, South Korea and had two majors in international tourism and hotel management.
Starting the business
She also recalled how she started the business.
And she remembered the time when she got engaged a couple of years ago, where she felt that there was nothing special about it or there was a special moment that they could look back to.
They just talked and decided to get married with her long-time Korean boyfriend for over ten years.
As a woman who loves surprises and sweet moments, Jang jokingly said that she was quite disappointed with how her boyfriend popped the question.
“I want to show people how you need to propose,” she said in jest when asked why she put up her business named “Eventually.”
It is common for people to prepare something special or surprise their loved ones especially during important events like proposals, anniversaries, weddings and the like. But there are also some who find it hard to prepare such activities which could be very tiring.
Take care of everything
This is where Eventually comes in.
They take care of everything, down to the most minute detail, in making an important event special while you take care of your own butterflies and jitters.
“My main purpose is to make people happy through surprises. There are not many businesses of this kind here so it was hard for me at first. But it was also a challenge for me,” Jang said.
“Eventually” opened in June last year and their office is located in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City. Jang explained that the company’s name is a combination of “event,” “u,” and “all” while the “y” was made to resemble a bouquet of flowers.
The company is still very small with only two full-time people aside from Jang. But she said they always hire part-time people when they have scheduled events. These part-timers could do dances and other support activities to make their event’s more special.
$10,000 capital
Jang said she invested US$ 10,000 in starting the company last year. Bulk of the capital, she said, was used to buy equipment from Korea for their events like bubble machines, smoke machines, cameras and decorations as well as their office space.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Eventually is out to make sure that couples who avail of their services would enjoy the perfect moment with their loved ones.
Most of Eventually’s clients for now are foreigners and tourists like Chinese and Korean nationals who are living in Cebu or are staying for vacation.
Packages
They offer customized packages with their all-in package costing US$1,500 or around P75,000.
This already includes 10 dancers; three videographers who will take and edit videos for the entire event; sound system; video cameras; a projector and screen; bubble machine; video presentation; decorations like flowers and candles; a flower bouquet; a dinner for two with wine; a tarpaulin with your message; and fireworks.
Jang admits that their package is a bit at the expensive end which is why foreigners are mostly their clients.
But she said customers can request to take out some of the inclusions like the fireworks which is the most expensive, costing them around P20,000.
Word of mouth
They also usually partner with tour agencies which can disseminate to tourists their services since Jang said they have not been doing a lot of advertisement and are only relying on Facebook and word of mouth.
Jang admits that their packages could be too expensive for locals and Cebuanos. But she assured that they are now trying to recreate packages that can be more affordable while not making it less special.
And with Eventually, Jang also vowed that she herself would make sure that every single thing is good as she personally supervises the entire event from the planning down to the actual moment.