Cebu Expects Tourists Back by Second Half of 2022

According to the top industry actors of tourism in the Cebu province area, they are expecting an increase in business for the second half of 2022. Restaurants, hotels, and resorts are looking forward to welcoming back Korean and Japanese tourists to Cebu. 

Mr. Carlo Anton Suarez, Executive Vice President of Hotel,  Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. (HRRACI) said “we expect a boom in the tourism (industry in Cebu) sometime in September or October of this year. In terms of employment, most of us in the hotel and resorts business is hiring to support the boom,”

Mr. Suarez also mentioned that Korean and Japanese visitors are predicted to tour Cebu by Q3 of 2022 which coincides with the easing of pandemic restrictions in other Southeast Asian countries. 

With this, the industry actors have a positive view of tourism in Cebu recovering to its pre-pandemic levels. 

Resorts and hotels are now expediting their hiring process to get more staff ready in case of an increase in the volume of tourists in the next few months. Airlines are expected to accommodate more flights from Japan and Korea beginning this July 2022 as noted by Mr. Suarez. 

Mr. Alfred Reyes, President of HRRACI, said that after two years of the pandemic, hotels, restaurants, and resorts are back to their normal operations. He also mentioned that operations now heavily rely on domestic tourists and calls local tourists key drivers of Cebu’s tourism economy since the easing of restrictions this year. 

In the meantime, Mayor Michael Rama stated that Cebu City will get ready for the traffic of tourists and also noted the recovery of tourism in the area. He goes on to say that recovery will coincide with the restarting of the Sinulog Festival.

Source: Philippine News Agency