Hotels seen to be full by Sinulog weekend

The head of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) is optimistic that there will be high occupancy of hotels this January in Cebu City, considered as the home of the grand Sinulog Festival.

HRRAC President Carlo Suarez said that based from previous experiences, most of the Cebu City hotels commonly become fully booked three days before the Sinulog, which is traditionally celebrated every third Sunday of January.

For this year, the Sinulog falls on January 21.

“(For the reservations,) it's very good for the first quarter of 2018 (but) city hotels will already be full starting January 18 until 22,” Suarez told The FREEMAN.

He also confirmed yesterday that some hotels are still open for reservations until now especially for local and foreign tourists who wish to visit Cebu City and experience the festivity.

“Occupancy has been very positive as of this week (with) an average of 60 to 70 percent but next week we will be expecting 100 percent occupancy for the Sinulog weekend,” he said.

Suarez is confident that there will be a surge of hotel bookings here in the city as the days draw near the festivity.

He identified January as the peak season of Cebu City's hotel occupancy, owing to the grand festival that has been attracting several tourists and pilgrims every year.

“Most of the hotels are fully booked during the month, operating on a high occupancy,” he said.

He also said that on January 19 to 21, room rates are expected to normally increase to 10 or 15 percent, depending on the type of hotel.

Compared to the previous Sinulog celebrations, reservations for the January festivity were frequent as early as September of every year.

This year, however, Suarez said hotel bookings were frequent only starting last November until this month.

He explained that there is no clear reference of comparison yet for now since the calendar has yet to enter the third week of the month.

He added that he is still excited to welcome tourists and balikbayans (overseas Filipinos) who plan to witness the several events in celebration of the Sinulog.