Dutch investor builds a wellness asylum in Oslob

CEBU, Philippines - The promising charm of southern Cebu, specifically in the areas of Boljo-on, and Oslob towns, prompted a Dutch investor to set up a total wellness and leisure facility in a 5,000 square-meter seaside property in Oslob.

Leo Regeer, together with Filipina partner Grace Garcia, started to build and open a resort to jumpstart their long term plan of providing total wellness “asylum” for both local and foreign tourists visiting the southern part of the province.

Regeer, initially opened 13-room beach resort called “Seafari Beach Resort, in Barangay Tan-awon, Oslob.

Even before the existence of whale sharks on the area, Regeer said he saw the big potential of Oslob to attract visitors, with its rich natural resources, like the Tumalog falls, the cultural and heritage sites, and the awesome view of nature and beach.

Aside from the establishment of the Seafari Resort, Regeer said he is up to build a “Bird Park,” holiday apartments, and a wellness clinic which will offer care for phychiatric and mentally retarded people.

“I call it my little Grand Canyon and I want a bird park placed there where the guests can go in and feel like they are in another place with all the different birds that we will be putting in the park,” says Regeer.

In the next five years, Regeer, who has businesses in Holland, and also operates a French School, will have to construct holiday houses that will be put up for long term rent, or for sale.

“My vision is that what we will be earning in the resort will also go back to the community through the clinic where we will be offering free consultations to those who cannot afford to pay for medications especially those mentally retarded patients,” said Regeer.

Regeer is a teacher and consultant in Amsterdam who has set up his own LEO Management Aggression Prevention company in 1991 which deals with aggression prevention.

He also has his own hotel called Moto Hotel Auvergne which was the reason why he came to Cebu in 2007 to buy furniture for his property and met his partner Garcia.

The charm of Oslob has made Regeer decide to invest here, as he sees the big potential of the town and its neighbouring municipalities to make tourism businesses as economic booster, and that accommodation and additional facilities are needed in order to give way to tourism growth in these areas.

Already, the Department of Tourism, as well as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) have identified the towns of Boljo-on, Oslob, Samboan and Santader as the tourism backbone of the southern Cebu cluster.

In a separate interview with DOT-7 regional director Rowena Montecillo, she said that this cluster  is one of the strongest tourism clusters of the province, and that the government has prepared to further strengthen the existing attractions of the area other than the “whale shark” watching, as well as introducing more tourism related activities and destinations.

Once fully operational, Regeer will be marketing the property in Europe and in major websites that European and American travelers check out when they travel abroad.

“We are targeting to be ready for European and American tourists by September. Locally, we would be talking soon with the Department of Tourism and see how we could work together to promote the property,” he stressed. (FREEMAN)