Balikbayans enjoy the mouth watering food in one of the stops of the Suroy-suroy Sugbo southern trail in 2015. |CDN file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu provincial government has allocated P6.6 million for the staging of Suroy-suroy Sugbo: Southern Heritage Trail this November 15 to 17, 2019.
This is P2.6 million more than it is projected to earn for this tour in November.
Provincial Tourism Officer Maria Lester Ybañez said the Suroy-suroy Sugbo: Southern Heritage Trail might only earn P4 million from the payments of the participants, but the province would not necessarily lose revenues.
She said the difference between the expenses and the actual income of the province for the tour would be considered as an investment for the promotion of Cebu’s tourism industry.
“Di man ta moingon nga alkanse kay starting pa ta. (We can’t say that we are losing money because we are just starting.)This is still the introductory rate, and this is an investment for the marketing strategy. It’s the income going to the LGU ang atong giapas (What we are after are the income of the LGUs) and not going to the province,” Ybañez said.
The locals in every participating town are encouraged to sell souvenirs and delicacies during the tour.
Read more: Gwen: No town, city will be left out in this year’s Suroy-Suroy Sugbo
She also said that the majority of the P6.6 million would be released to the 22 participating towns in the tour for their preparation expenses.
Each town will get P300,000.
”Majority sa food gyud na kay the delegation, every time we stop, we always serve food. Some of it would be used up sa paglimpyo sa lugar, program and presentations,” Ybañez said in an interview on Thursday, October 17.
(Majority of that will go to the food for the delegation because every time we stop we always serve food. Some of it would be used for the cleanup of the place, programs and presentations.)
Ybañez said they were targeting to accommodate 300 participants in this leg of Suroy-suroy Sugbo.
Each participant will be paying P10,000 to P17,000 for the whole three-day and two-night tour.
While all participants will be given the same tour kits and served the same food, Ybañez explained that the variation in the packages would depend on the participants’ choice of their accommodation.
PTO has partnered with at least 12 resorts where the guests will spend their night on November 15 and 16.
The delegation for the southern heritage trail is composed of local and foreign tourists and working teams from the local government units of Palawan, Negros Oriental and Maasin, Leyte. /dbs