A balikbayan joins the Sinulog dancers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in this January 2014 photo. (CDN FILE PHOTO)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — At least three balikbayan flights will be arriving in Cebu on January 17 for the Sinulog festivities.
Judy Gabato, chief tourism operations officer of the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7), said that balikbayans would come from different foreign countries including the United States of America.
“We at DOT are collaborating with the Balik Cebu Committee for the preparations,” she said during the AGIO forum on Tuesday.
Gabato said that with the opening of terminal 2 of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) in July 2018 and Bohol International Airport in November of the same year, they would be anticipating more balikbayan arrivals in Cebu in this year’s Sinulog.
But she failed to provide their 2018 data saying that they were still continuing to collate the needed information.
Gabato said that Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, Inc. (HRRAC) president Carlo Anton Suarez reported during their meeting on Monday of high occupancy rates in Cebu hotels and resorts this month.
“It was clearly announced by the HRRAC president that it’s very good when it comes to accommodation. Hopefully this will continue until the end of the month and beyond,” Gabato added./dbs
