Tourism stakeholders meet to plan projects to boost visitor arrivals

Meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (Mice), hop-on/hop-off bus tours and a night market are the projects tourism stakeholders are planning for the region

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 has conducted its first organizational meeting with the different tourism stakeholders for three special projects aimed at boosting tourism arrivals to the region.

These three activities are in relation to meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibition (Mice), hop-on/hop off bus tours, and night market.

“The objective of the meeting was to partner with the tourism key players and create a team to work on the projects, which are expected to be launched on the first quarter of 2017. The said projects will help boost and encourage more tourists to visit and choose the region as their venue for special/major events,” the DOT 7 said.

According to Rowena Montecillo, the region’s tourism chief, four tourism organizations have volunteered to co-chair the activities. The Cebu Association of Tour Operators (Cato), for instance, expressed commitment to spearhead Mice activities, while the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (Naitas) will co-chair the hop-on/hop-off bus tour activity.

The DOT and the Department of Trade and Industry will work in tandem for the night market.

The meeting was attended by Cato, Korean Travel Agency Association (KOTAA), Network of Independent Travel and Allied Services Inc. (NITAS), Naitas, Tourism Operators Unite in Region 7 (TOUR-7), Federation of Tourism Transport Operators in Cebu (FTTOC), and Cebu Association of Rent-a-Car Companies (CARCOM).