Cebu City fetes tourism prime movers

CEBU, Philippines —  Former Cebu City tourism executive and other prime movers of the city’s tourism have been recognized during the Cebu City Lakbay Lingaw Tourism Festival 2023’s gala at the NUStar Hotel and Casino at the South Road Properties.

Tetta Baad Baad had served as chairman and commissioner of the Cebu City Tourism Commission for 18 years.

It was during Baad’s time that the tourism potential in the mountain area of the city had been explored.

Baad’s efforts had not been left unnoticed with the Lifetime Achievement award given to her by the Cebu City government headed by Mayor Michael Rama.

Composers Gani Villarojo, who is behind Celebrate Cebu, and Russel Alegado for I love Cebu along with Ramon Aboitiz Foundation’s Kabilin Center were also given an award for their valuable contributions in local culture and heritage.

The posthumous awards were also accorded to the late vice mayor Renato Osmeña and Phineas Alburo.

Alburo served in the tourism industry here for 45 years while Osmeña had been stirring the Sinulog festival for many years before.

Other Pasidungog 2023 awardees include Golden Prince Hotel and Suites and the Cebu Business Month Tourism Summit for their sustainable practices in tourism promotion and marketing and the R & M Preserves and Sugbo Mercado for their innovation in tourism experiences here.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism is expected to hit its target for 2023 in no time after it breached the 4 million mark for international visitor arrivals in the country before the end of September.

DOT targets 4.8 million of visitors for this year with 91.58 percent or 3,668,039 of it are foreign nationals while 8.42 percent or 337,426 are overseas Filipinos that totals to 4,005,465 as of September 29.

South Korea ranked first in terms of the country’s top source markets, delivering more than a quarter of the total international arrivals to the Philippines with 1,046,176 (26.12 percent), followed by the United States of America (USA) with 679,090 (16.95 percent); Japan with 221,671 (5.53 percent); China with 194,258 (4.85 percent); and Australia with 187,143 (4.67 percent).

Other visitors came from Canada with 164,168 (4.10 percent); Taiwan with 146,396 (3.65 percent); the United Kingdom with 114,096 (2.85 percent); Singapore with 107,674 (2.69 percent); and Malaysia with 72,008 (1.80 percent) per DOT’s data. (CEBU NEWS)