Hotel and resort owners help city attract tourists

CEBU, Philippines –  Hotel and resort owners and operators and Lapu-Lapu City officials work collectively to promote the city to local tourists.

Hotel and beach resort owners and operators are very much behind the “Island Experience’ campaign, which started yesterday.

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza said the success of the program will benefit not only city residents but also hotel and beach resorts owners and operators.

The “Island Experience” in Lapu-Lapu was conceptualized by city officials following the hostage crisis in Manila which affected the tourism industry in the country.

It was also learned that a number of scheduled trips of some foreign tourists to Cebu especially to Lapu-Lapu City were cancelled after the incident.

Radaza said the city’s answer to the problem was the “Island Experience” campaign.

The mayor admitted that tourism is the major economic driver in Lapu-Lapu City, the top taxpayers of the city comes from the sector.

She told hotel and beach resort owners that the city is not only collecting taxes but also protecting their well being.

Radaza said her administration gives priority to the development of tourism in the city.

She said the “Island Experience” campaign is the start of the transformation of Lapu-Lapu City that everybody would like to see.

“Everything is in Lapu-Lapu City to be a major tourist destination; an international airport surrounded with a coastline that is lined-up with world-class hotels and resorts, and an urban reef just a few minutes away from the shoreline.

These are the amenities that no other highly urbanized city can offer,” Mayor Radaza said.

However, Radaza said the city needs more than this to achieve everybody’s vision.

“We cannot compete with white sand beaches alone or having world class hotels and resorts because everybody is trying to build these,” she said.

She said “I therefore throw this challenge to our tourism partners in the private sector, to develop more competitive attractions. I challenge you to drive your creative imagination beyond its limits and use Lapu-Lapu City as your canvas. You can have the whole city as your playground.”

Together, Radaza said her administration and private sector partnership will work hand in hand to achieve this vision of transforming Lapu-Lapu into a tourist city and create a tourism oriented mindset of the constituency.

Hembler Mendoza, general manager of Shangri-La Mactan Resort and Spa and other hotel and resorts managers assured Mayor Radaza of full support to the program. (FREEMAN)