Aggressive tourism ads: Capitol will push Cebu ad campaign

CEBU, Philippines - Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is now seriously thinking of coming up with an advertising campaign to sell Cebu following statistical reports that Camarines Sur emerged as top tourism destination in the Philippines.

Popular for its water sports adventures, Camarines Sur reportedly overtook Metro Manila and Cebu as the top tourism destination in the country with 2.33 million tourists in 2010, based on data from the National Statistical Coordination Board.

Statistics show that Manila reported 2.3 million visitors while Cebu had 1.7 million tourists.

“I am now seriously thinking of being more aggressive in our marketing strategies to sell Cebu because the competition is tough and stiff and they are also very efficient,” Garcia told reporters yesterday.

The data Garcia said should be a wake-up call for Cebu for being complacent, relying only on word-of- mouth endorsements and advertisements in the past.

 “I am now seeing that that’s not really the way to go right now, we cannot just be too laidback because other provinces naniguro pud sila,”

Garcia gave Camarines Sur Governor Luis Ray Villafuerte a salute for his outstanding marketing strategies.

A huge billboard of Villafuerte on wakeboarding inviting tourists to come to his place is being displayed in Manila.

“It’s about time mo-advertise sad ta ang Cebu. Di lang siguro ko mag-wakeboarding kay di man ko kamao, mangabayo siguro ko. (It’s about time that we Cebuanos also advertise but I won’t do wakeboarding because I don’t know how, maybe I’ll do horseback riding),” Garcia said.

In 2009, Department of Tourism statistics showed Cebu as the country’s top destination with 1.6 million visitors followed by Camarines Sur with 1.56 million and Metro Manila with 1.44 million.

Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale agreed that there is now a need to invite more tourists to Cebu. Magpale is the chairperson of the committee on tourism in the Provincial Board. She said she is still happy with Camarines Sur because it is still part of the country.

Garcia and Magpale led more than a hundred guests and tourists during the Suroy Suroy Sugbo Explore the Midwest segment when the news broke.

The group with some politicians eyeing the Senate seats in 2013 were exploring the areas in Midwest of Cebu Province for the two-day tour last Monday and Tuesday. — (FREEMAN)