Cebu records 11 percent hike in foreign tourist arrivals in past 8 mos.
By Fayette C. Riñen
CEBU CITY, Oct. 21 (PIA) -- Cebu continues to be a tourism haven for foreign tourists as tourist arrivals for the past eight months this year rose by 11.33 percent as recorded by the Department of Tourism (DOT) Central Visayas.
From January to August, this year, 1,313,316 foreign tourists visited Cebu compared to the 1,179,699 tourist volume of the same period last year.
South Koreans topped the list of foreigners that visit Cebu and in fact, are the number one foreign tourists in the country, according to the DOT-7 Regional Director Rowena Montecillo.
“South Korea is the country’s leading source of tourists comprising 44.49 percent or around 250,353 Korean visitors arrived in the Philippines for the first seven months, this year,” Montecillo disclosed.
Japanese followed second in volume of tourist arrivals with 106,946 or 19.01 percent while the United States came in third with 50, 6134 tourists or nine percent, this is reported.
Other nationals that visited Cebu come from countries from East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, America, Oceania and the Middle East, this is learned.
Montecillo however, bared that tourists from Hong Kong dropped with negative 52.57 percent and the People’s Republic of China as well with negative 44.19 percent following a travel ban issued after the hostage taking incident in Manila last year.
But the DOT-7 director expressed optimism that Cebu and the rest of Central Visayas would recover as she learned that many tourists form Hong Kong will be coming here before the end of the year. (PIA-Cebu)
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Cebu province to intensify security measures
in bus terminals for All Souls, Saints Day
by Amor Saludar
CEBU CITY October 21 (PIA) -- In preparation for the long holiday come All Souls and All Saints Day where a mammoth of crowd is expected to head back towards their hometown, the CebuProvincial Government said it will intensify security measures in bus terminals to ensure that peace and order is maintained.
Gov. Gwen Garcia ordered the augmentation of 10 security personnel at the Cebu South Bus Terminal (CSBT) to assist in manning the area and ensure the safety of the riding public.
CSBT Manager, Carmen Quijano bared that they are also preparing the procedures for an orderly and efficient queuing of passengers while waiting for the buses that will transport them to the southern part of Cebu.
“We are also setting up a breast-feeding corner within the terminal area so that breast- feeding mothers will be comfortable when breastfeeding their babies,” Quijano said.
Quijano futher revealed that as the usual practice, Gov. Garcia will conduct an ocular inspection in the terminal to personally check whether everything is in order for the safety of the riding public. It will also be an opportune time for the governor to informally socialize with the passengers b y extending her greetings to them, Quijano said.
Garcia has also directed concerned agencies to strengthen security inspection procedures on the lading of the passengers for a possible transport of illegal drugs, bombs and other things that can put the lives of the passengers at risk. (FCR/AS/PIA-Cebu)