Cebu to revive tourism industry

“We are looking at tourism as a way to provide livelihoods to our people. So definitely we cannot say tourism is dead. We will see what we can do to revive it because people need the jobs and the economic activity that tourism generates,” Garcia said on Sugbo News.

Garcia and several mayors met with Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 7 officials to plan the next steps for Cebu’s tourism industry.

“We will be meeting again this week and we asked them depending on the kind of activity in their area kung unsa ilang ma (whatever they can) propose nga protocols taking into consideration health and sanitation and our push towards boosting the immune system,” Garcia said. 

The governor said the province will be repackaged as a health and wellness destination.

Garcia also promoted kayaking in Badian or doing any water sports as a way of strengthening the immune system against Covid-19.

Meanwhile, Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, Inc. (HRRAC) President Carlo Anton Suarez appealed to the Capitol for help, saying it will take them one to two years to recover from this crisis

The entire province stopped most business operations on March 30. The province’s tourism was also at a standstill because of travel bans. Some hotels had to lay off workers while a few shut down before Cebu transitioned into general community quarantine (GCQ) last June 1