Cebu tour operators gear up for ASEAN Tourism Forum

CEBU, Philippines - Following the favorable impact of the APEC Summit to the tourism industry, Cebu tour operators are now preparing more tour packages within the province and neighboring destinations in time for the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) to be held in the Philippines early 2016.

"We are preparing three types of packages. These are tours on heritage, soft adventure packages from north to south, island destination tours," said Cebu Association of Tour Operators (CATO) past president Alice Queblatin.

Queblatin, the current Tourism Congress vice president for Travel and Tour Group for Visayas, said that Cebu is becoming more popular now among other destinations in the Philippines, fueled by the positive reviews of some APEC delegates on Cebu's charm as a vacation and leisure destination.

Early this year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) kicked off its preparations for the ATF 2016.

This would be the last major tourism event on January 2016 (by the Aquino administration). DOT hopes to make it big and successful.

The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) is a travel trade show which rotates annually among the member countries of ASEAN.

Although the forum will only be held in Manila, Queblatin said tourism stakeholders from Cebu will be making a prominent presence in the forum's pavilion to entice delegates to visit Cebu, as well as sell Cebu to their respective countries.

According to Queblatin, selling Cebu is no longer a problem, as it has already carved its name as one of the attractive tourism destinations in the Philippines. However, stakeholders have to offer more of Cebu, so that buyers will be thrilled, get more of Cebu aside from the usual tour activities. (FREEMAN)