Cebu Business Month 2019

From the Cebu Business Week emerged the Cebu Business Month (CBM), held May every year. It has been decades of improvisations, crafted with a theme and a song, with interrelated events in tourism, entrepreneurship, environment, sports and technology. All past presidents were involved. I was active in the Tourism Congress and the Grand Chamber Awards. The idea of an opening salvo at Ayala Center Cebu was a good marketing strategy. And we were not wrong! The participation of the private stakeholders and the government was our brand. A synergy of logistics!

Last May 31, The Terraces at Ayala Center Cebu reverberated with the sound and sense of the Cebu Business Month’s Opening Salvo led by Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) president Nonoy Espeleta and CBM chairperson Lilu Aliño. I cannot help but remember how past president Francis Monera opened the doors of Ayala for many CBM events. Marissa Fernan was equally involved and made SM Malls a vital part of many events. This year’s theme focused on innovations in many perspectives.

This June 18 at Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Edwin Ortiz, who

took over my stewardship of the CCCI Tourism Committee, would take the centerstage along with renowned stakeholders and speakers, to reinvigorate the role of tourism in our economy and culture. I couldn’t help but remember the Cebu City Marriott Hotel and the Cebu International Convention Center as the historic centers of many local, national and international tourism, travel events in the past.

The Grand Chamber Awards will be the finale. The grandeur of this event was the brainchild of Jun Muntuerto, which I chaired and directed for years, then continued by past president Tess Chan, Melanie Ng and the late Carmel Salvador. Marco Polo Plaza Cebu, Radisson Blu Cebu and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino were our best venues. We hoped for new thrusts in the selection of awards, but it hadn’t happened. Not yet, anyway. There should be special awards to acknowledge initiatives outside of profits, but which had wide community mileage.

The next step the CCCI should take is to make a research-based study of the impact of the CBM in Cebu’s economy. The study could expand beyond Cebu.

OPENING. In the photo is the Cebu Chamber of Commerce Industry (CCCI) Cebu Business Month team during the Opening Salvo at Ayala Center Cebu. Special guest was Department of Tourism 7 head Shahlimar Tamano. CCCI president Nonoy Espeleta and the CCCI Board gave their 100 percent support.

HISTORY AND LEGACY. The Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry Cebu Business Month honored the past Cebu Business Month chairpersons who made the events successful through decades of leadership.

STAFF. The production staff and the reception staff led by Junjet Primor and Cebu Business Month chairperson Lilu Aliño.

RELIGIOUS TOURISM. The Sandiego Dance Troupe has been the key performers in many religious events, pilgrimages like the Sinulog and Suroy-Suroy sa Sugbu. Cebu has earned a mark in religious tourism.

EVENT. The Tourism Forum, formerly called Tourism Congress, will happen June 18 at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu. Chaired by Edwin Ortiz, the event will feature private stakeholders and government units. Edwin is shown here with Nimrod Quinones and Department of Tourism 7 (DOT 7) regional director Shahlimar Tamano. I invited tourism gurus Bobby Joseph and past DOT7 director Dawnie Roa.

ZONTIAN Jane Panganiban was the Reyna de las Flores, a religious and tourism event sponsored by the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.