One of the tourist attractions in Cebu is the Bojo river cruise in Aloguinsan, Cebu. | Contributed Photo/ Cebu Provincial Tourism Office
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu Provincial government will be launching Holy Week packages for travelers from all over the country.
The province will be offering pre-Holy Week and Holy Week tour packages patterned to Capitol’s already popular and successful Suroy-Suroy Sugbo concept wherer they partnered with the private tour operators, airlines, transport operators, and the hotels and resorts in the Province of Cebu.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia met on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, with Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7 ) Director Shalimar Hofer Tamano, Provincial Tourism Officer Maria Lester “Marti” Ybañez, and the stakeholders in the tourism industry to discuss the holiday getaway.
“Let’s work together para unified ta (Let us work together so we can have a unified approach),” Garcia said, adding that everyone should be onboard to resuscitate the economy crushed by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with minimum health standards.
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Garcia said the packages should be affordable for tourists — from the air fare down to accommodations and transport for tours.
With the help of the Cebu Alliance of Tour Operations Specialists (Catos) and Cebu Tours and Travel Association (CTTA), the packages are expected to become “meaningful experiences.”
The governor said there is a need to do more and open up more markets especially that Cebu is now ready with the guidelines and protocols to be followed under her Executive Order (EO) No. 12, which was designed to make it easier for domestic tourists to visit Cebu and enjoy the Province’s renowned tourist attractions.
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EO No. 12 is the first local initiative to encourage domestic tourism activity. Among its provisions, the province will no longer require swab testing for guests who wish to come here, as long as they carry a medical clearance that certifies them to be fit and pass the symptoms check at the point of origin and upon arrival.
Visiting guests will only need to present proof of booking at a hotel or resort accredited by the Cebu Provincial Tourism Task Force and/or from the Province’s tourism portal for any tourism activity that they wish to participate.
For his part, DOT Regional Director Tamano also expressed the need for all players to adjust and cooperate in these unusual and challenging times during the pandemic.
Tamano said that when Cebu decided to open up for domestic tourism, they were the happiest and thanked the governor for her efforts to revive the tourism industry.
Cebu and Visayas were declared as Conde Nast Traveler’s (CNT) 2020 Reader’s Choice Awards for best islands in the Asian region beating the likes of Sri Lanka, Ko Pha Ngan in Thailand, and even Palawan and Siargao in the Philippines.
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