Photo shows the skyline of uptown Cebu City where several business hotels are located. | CDN FILE PHOTO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — As the Sinulog season kicks in, hotels in Cebu City are almost fully booked, reaching 90 to 100 percent occupancy.
Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. (HRRACI) president Alfred Reyes confirmed this in a phone interview with CDN Digital on Saturday, Jan. 13., mentioning a surge in bookings, particularly around Ayala Center, with hotels in the area like Seda Hotel and Quest Hotel fully booked.
Ayala Center area
The bookings started to pick up in the first week of January, Reyes added.
“Kanang sa Ayala [Center] nga mga area, puno na gyud na…Ayala Center nga mga hotels duol diha, wa nakay makuha nga kwarto,” he said.
He added that a hotel in South Road Properties is fully booked, but others, like Marco Polo Plaza, have 70 percent of their rooms booked.
“Tan-aw namo, puno naman gyud na diha nga area (Ayala and SRP) so makahig na gyud nang uban,” he said.
Downtown Cebu
Meanwhile, he said that downtown Cebu hotels, like Crown Regency, One Central Hotel, and GV Tower, are the first to hit full occupancy, primarily booked by domestic guests.
“Ang downtown Cebu, mao man gyud nay mag-una labi natong [magpa-book] gikan probinsya anha man gyud na sila,” he said.
International bookings, mainly from Korea and Taiwan, focus on Mactan hotels, he said.
“Ang Mactan man gud has nothing to do with the Sinulog event (because it is far away from the venue),” he said.
Additionally, he mentioned that hotel bookings for Sinulog are keeping the same pace as the previous year during this period.
“Dili parehas katong pre-pandemic nga ang pickup nato kay October, November pa lang daghan na, maglisod naka’g kuha’g kwarto. Karon, makabook ka [og] January, naa pakay ma-book pero mao lage na, magdungan og January first week ug second week,” he said.
Sinulog events
Reyes anticipates a lively Sinulog period with events scheduled on Jan. 13, 14, and 21. This year, two Sinulog showdown events are slated in Cebu City, the Sinulog sa Dakbayan and Sinulog sa Lalawigan on Jan. 13 and 14, respectively at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
Meanwhile, the Sinulog grand showdown is happening on Jan. 21 at the South Road Properties.
“We hope that we will have a happy Sinulog [in] this particular Sinulog period,” Reyes said. /clorenciana
READ: No hotel bookings yet for January 2024, says HRRACI president