Government evaluating tourism areas in Cebu

THE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) is evaluating tourist destinations in Cebu to determine how government can help boost the industry.
Mark Lapid, TIEZA chief operating officer, said they will focus on improving barangay roads that provide access to tourist destinations.
Lapid said they were also looking at the comprehensive land use plans of local governments to be able to identify which areas can be developed into tourism sites.
In developing tourism sites, Lapid said their only problem is the long government procurement process.
“May timeline kaming hinahabol pero aside from that wala naman kaming naging problema kasi very cooperative and very supportive naman iyong mga LGU natin na kung saan nakatalaga iyong mga project (We have to meet our timeline but aside from that, we don’t have any problem because the LGUs are very cooperative and supportive),” he said.
TIEZA provides fiscal incentives to a tourism enterprise zone, an area of at least five hectares designed for tourism development. The incentives include income tax holiday and duty-free importation of capital equipment, among others.
The agency is also establishing “green” comfort rooms in the cities of Cebu and Carcar as well as in the towns of Argao and Tuburan, Lapid said.
The “green” restrooms are expected to be completed before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Cebu.
Cebu will host the Third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting and Related Meetings (SOM3) from Aug. 22 to Sept. 6. Two minister-level meetings, on Structural Reform and Finance, will also be held in Cebu from Sept. 7-8 and Sept. 10-11. (See related story)
Lapid said government is also about to complete other projects before the APEC Leaders’ Summit in November. These projects include the lighting of Mount Samat in Bataan, construction of the Iloilo Convention Center, and improving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 2, 3 and 4. /Correspondent Melissa Q. Cabahug