SM Seaside Mall primed as Cebu’s newest tourist attraction
CEBU CITY — Thousands of Cebuanos and tourists trooped to the South Reclamation Properties area yesterday morning for the opening of SM Seaside Mall, recognized as the fourth largest mall in Asia and primed to be Cebu’s newest tourist attraction.
During the inauguration of the mall last Thursday, SM Prime Holdings President Hans Sy said he hopes that the company’s newest mall in Cebu will not only attract Cebuanos but also tourists.
“We should be able to attract a lot of people, and the kind of attraction we’re trying to do is not only for Cebuanos but also tourists,” Sy said.
Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairperson of SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), said in a separate interview that they want their newest mall to become a tourist destination for local and foreign travelers.
“I think a lot of attention has been focused on Cebu so I’m sure that with the further developments in this part, I’m sure there would be more foreign and local investments coming into Cebu,” Coson said.
Coson hopes that SM Seaside, the firm’s 56th mall will become a catalyst of development in Cebu.
Traffic woes The festivities, however, also snarled traffic in the vicinity.
Joy Tumulak, Executive Director of the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), said traffic enforcers were deployed at the SRP to manage vehicular traffic.
Private vehicles and taxicabs were stranded along roads leading to the mall while many pedestrians took the new air-conditioned MyBus units, purposely deployed to ferry mall clients.
No public utility vehicles are allowed to enter the SRP area.
Robert Abella, who was driving towards the mall, said he wanted to be among the first to check out the interior of the mall.
“This traffic I think is just in the first few days. I’m pretty sure the traffic will go back to normal in the next few weeks,” Abella said.
Tumulak, meanwhile, said more traffic enforcers were set to be deployed in the area Friday afternoon and during the weekend, in anticipation of a bigger crowd.