Global Tourism Innovation for Cebu Tourism Summit 2017

“When the country became part of the territory of Spain, and when that time came in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Americans and the Europeans listed our country as one of the best countries to visit in Asia.” Edward Ortiz, CBM 2017 Tourism Chairman

The country’s tourism industry was defined shortly after World War II, it then flourished during the 70’s but declined in mid 80’s due to the country’s crisis. But despite the lower tourism growth during that time, surprisingly it regained its number and as of today, the number of tourists that are visiting the country has grown exponentially.
With the number of tourists coming in the country, Cebu, has always been one of the most chosen destinations in the Philippines, thus making Tourism as one of the major thrusts of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) through Cebu Business Month 2017.

“Over the years, the tourism industry has grown stronger and yet more vulnerable” According to Usec Almarita Jimenez of Tourism Regulation, Coordination & Resource Generation.

Generally what people think about when it comes to tourism are the beautiful destinations and the activities to be enjoyed but to bring in and to sustain visitors require development of unique and effective strategies to be implemented that would make our tourism offerings stand out from the wide competition in the market which has never been as aggressive as today due to the presence of technology and social media.

Tourism nowadays is no longer just about the competitiveness of the attraction, the gimmicks and the promotions that comes along with it. Visitors, either foreign or domestic are already looking for the experience wherein they can immerse with the local environment and industry instead of just the plain traditional sight-seeing.
Destinations must optimize its attractiveness by showing a strategic capacity to deliver quality, innovative and attractive tourism services consistently ensuring that we are maximizing our tourism resources effectively and efficiently.
The one-day summit served an avenue to provide updates on the current and on going projects such as the most awaited new Mactan Cebu International Airport that will serve as a gateway to accommodate a larger scale of tourists coming in and out of the region as well as technological advancements such the use of different forms of channels like social media, the web, etc that will not only attract tourists but shall also educate them about the different destinations and experience.

Staged with a select group of experts that tackled various tourism-relevant information, the Cebu Tourism Summit that was held last June 16, 2017 at Cebu Marriot Hotel was able to impart the best practices of the industry and capture the importance of innovation as a major role to help the industry “Step Up” towards globalization.
Missed the event? Here’s a quick recap of what has happened. Watch the video below.