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AFTER successfully hosting the 12th Asean Summit,
Cebu will continue to bustle with tourism events for the rest of the
year. The Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Joseph H. Durano
disclosed that four of the tourism industry’s major fairs and
exhibits, conferences and conventions will take place at the
brand-new Cebu International Convention Center (CICC). It is all
poised for a busy 2007 with these and other institutional events in
addition to corporate meetings and incentive trips.
Among these include the 2nd
Tourism Jobs Fair in April, the 1st Philippine Cuisine Expo in
September, the 7th Philippine Travel Exchange in November and the
Kalakbay Awards in December.
The Jobs Fair will be the second
since its launching in 2006 and will again bring together potential
labor force and suppliers of jobs in the travel and tourism sector.
The DOT, Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp. (PCVC) and the
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are partner conveyors of
this activity, which is held in response to the Arroyo
Administration’s 10-point agenda of job creation.
Together with the Hotel and
Restaurant Association of the Philippines and the Philippine
Association of Conventions and Exhibitions Organizers, the 1st
Philippine Cuisine Expo promises to be different from the usual
culinary activities held nationwide as it aims to consolidate,
showcase, sustain and increase awareness on the diverse cuisine that
the islands boast of. The theme “Experience Philippines: The
Islands of Tasteful Adventures” focuses on actual demonstrations
by seasoned local culinary experts and highly-esteemed foreign
celebrity chefs as well as on a deeper understanding of the origin
and history of each dish, bringing product interpretation and
appreciation to a higher level.
The Philippine Travel Exchange is
one of the industry’s must-attend events, which afford travel
trade buyers and sellers to network, negotiate and do business. Its
strength lies on the efficient conduct of the business-to-business
sessions.
The Kalabay (Kasama sa Lakbay)
Awards, a biennial event, which was started in 1989 by the DOT and
PCVC, honor outstanding individuals and entities in the various
fields of tourism. Exemplary service and commitment to excellence
are the main criteria in the selection of the awardees.
Secretary Durano adds,
“Cebu’s wide array of tourism products and services is further
strengthened by CICC’s potential of attracting a sizeable number
of the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions)
business. Overall, Cebu and the other meeting hubs present more
choices for this market and raise our advantage to regain our
position in this sector.”
The newly constructed
P515-million edifice has a gross floor area of 28,000 square meters
and located on 3.8 hectares of land at the Mandaue City Reclamation
Area in Metro Cebu. Designed by Architect Manuel Guanzon, CICC
offers a total of 10,000 square meters next exhibition function
space, a grand ballroom, nine function rooms, a business center,
private rooms for smaller meetings, food and beverage facilities, a
bank, limousine and car rental and a tour and travel center.
Services include full convention
secretarial support, latest audio and video equipment, Speaker’s
Lounge, pressroom, newest information technology for media to
facilitate transmission of news worldwide, fixed and mobile grand
performance stages and cargo storage space.
The CICC joins the Philippine
International Convention Center (PICC) to be actively promoted
during sales mission abroad, as the country’s prime venues for the
MICE market activities.
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