CCTC to declare September as “Cebu Tourism Month”

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Tourism Commission along with other tourism stakeholders will declare the month of September as Cebu Tourism Month and will be introducing the “Lakbay Lingaw” campaign.

CCTC chairperson Tetta Ba-ad announced yesterday that the group will officially launch the "Lakbay Lingaw" campaign that will offer diverse and different tourism-related activities during the entire month of September.

 The campaign will be officially launched next week during the "Miss Cebu 2015” event.

  "Lakbay Lingaw" or (Fun Travel) is a campaign that aims to reinvigorate and rev up the tourism industry in Cebu, and is akin to the tourism campaign of Cebu during the Martial Law times "Cebu in the Pacific."

  Ba-ad said, CCTC is coordinating with different tourism groups and stakeholders, including the Cebu Provincial Tourism Council, local government units, transportation (air,sea and land) operators, Philippine Retail Association (PRA-Cebu), shopping malls, among others, to create a unified promotional tourism campaign that will catch the attention of both domestic and foreign travelers.

 While Cebu has already carved its name as top tourism destination in the country, in fact tourism is the second revenue contributor for the province, Ba-ad said "We cannot rest on our laurels. Soon, other destinations in the country will snatch our position."

 Destinations like Bohol, Palawan, CamSur, she said have been doing a lot to promote their respective places. Cebu on the other hand, has to catch up in terms of updating its attractions, events offering, and other promotional and developmental moves.

 The "Lakbay Lingaw" is part of the projects that will be included in the P16 million budget approved by the Cebu City Council, which will also be spent for the renovation of some heritage and cultural sites in Cebu, improve toilet facilities in tourism sites, like Fort San Pedro, and others.

  Although spearheaded by CCTC, Ba-ad said the campaign will not only limit its projects to Cebu City, but it will also work with province-wide local government units, and the Provincial government.

 The month-long event, will offer among others, discounted travel fares going and from Cebu via, air, sea and land transportation, biggest end-of-season sale, hotel restaurant attractive promotions, in short, a "huge package of bargains."

  "This will be the time that visitors will feel the festive mood of Cebu," said Ba-ad.

  PRA-Cebu will be tasked to orchestrate the introduction of biggest sale event, that will e patterned after America’s traditional "Black Friday" after Thanksgiving.

  She said it will be a big pre-Christmas shopping festival in Cebu that will surely lure shoppers from all over the country and even abroad.

The Arts Council in Cebu will also be tapped in order to mount cultural shows in malls and other venues during the duration of the tourism month.

 The "Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbo" program will also be highlighted under the campaign

 Traditionally, September is the leanest month of the year, specifically for tourism related industries.

  A "Lakbay Limgaw" Award will also be held on September 27--the declared World Tourism Day by the United Nations. (FREEMAN)