Cebu tourism stakeholders told: Brace for ‘revenge travel’
Inside the T2 of MCIA. | CDN Digital File Photo 2019
CEBU CITY, Philippines — As Cebu’s tourism industry makes significant progress on its road to recovery, stakeholders are urged to brace for ‘revenge travel’.
Members of Cebu’s tourism sector gathered for the Go Explore Cebu Tourism Summit which was held at SM Seaside Cebu last Thursday, August 11.
During the panel discussion regarding Exploring Trends in the Travel and Tourism Industry, most panelists and source speakers agreed that recent statistics and trends suggest the resurgence of leisure travel.
At the same time, however, they advised tourism players to prepare themselves for the onset of ‘revenge travel.’
“It’s not (just) bullish. I think what we’re looking for right now is we have to be prepared — we have to be prepared for the revenge of travel,” said Marvin Villaruz, director of Sales and Marketing of Sheraton Cebu Mactan, who was among the panelists invited for the event.
Villaruz pointed to loosening border controls and restrictions, and mounting additional flights to and from Cebu as among the signs that would indicate the presence of ‘revenge travel’.
According to NPR, while there is no definite meaning behind revenge travel, the term is used to describe the growing number of people who make up the time for travel and experiences lost during the pandemic.
Aside from revenge travel, tourism stakeholders are also encouraged to embrace and promote the Filipino experience by supporting local players.
“Success for us will be about creating a space which engages the local community and supports local artists, engaging the senses to great travel memories that will connect with our guests so that they come back and become ambassadors, and finally, it is in the service of the Filipino people,” said Paolo Campillo, general manager of FILI Hotel of NUSTAR Resort & Casino.
The COVID-19 pandemic has virtually put leisure travels around the world to a grinding halt in 2020. It dragged on until 2021.
The travel and tourism industry is among those that bore the brunt of the economic pinch that followed.
Last February, the Philippines reopened its borders to fully vaccinated, foreign travelers, signaling the comeback of the country’s tourism scene.
In Central Visayas, where Cebu belonged, it recorded close to 1 million tourists during the first half of 2022.
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