CCCI to initiate tourism, entrepreneurship projects
The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) will be mounting more projects for tourism and entrepreneurship this year, taking advantage of the promising indicators of these two sectors.
CCCI president Melanie Ng said the chamber will get more involved in tourism related projects in Cebu, from government to private sector initiated projects.
Pushing the potential of tourism to its maximum level in Cebu could also give way for more Cebuanos to venture into entrepreneurship.
CCCI will be providing a good platform for entrepreneurship opportunities and know-how supporting the business-minded Cebuanos to be successful entrepreneurs. Tourism, she believes is a good gateway for entrepreneurs to venture on.
The growth in tourism could affect the health of a lot of sectors, such as retail, food, transportation, among others.
Aside from showcasing the attraction of Cebu as destination in heritage, beaches, shopping, CCCI will also support hotels to improve Cebu's foothold in MICE (meetings, incentive, conference and exhibitions), as Cebu has yet to scratch the surface of this huge market.
This means that CCCI will also be working closely with the hotel sector, like the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) and travel specialists.
In fact, CCCI and the Cebu Association of Tour Operations Specialists (CATOS) already started initial discussions on how to maximize Cebu's potential to make tourism its top economic driver — benefiting people from the grassroots.
Ng's announcement of CCCI's move to push for tourism projects and activities is also aligned with the direction of the new Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Shalimar Hofer Tamano, who announced that DOT will work closely with private sector and tourism stakeholders to push tourism so more in Cebu and other provinces in Central Visayas.
"This is the time to act and be decisive," Ng said stressing that action is needed in order to put Cebu fully in the global map of world-class destinations.