CEBU CITY — Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano Wednesday said Cebu continues to be the Philippines’ number one tourism brand, with growth in the industy in Cebu surpassing those in other parts of the Philippines.

Durano, who was keynote speaker during the SKAL International Cebu general membership meeting and induction of new members at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, said Cebu’s popularity as the country’s top destination has been confirmed in all travel fairs attended by the Department of Tourism (DoT) abroad.

SKAL is an organization of tourism leaders worldwide, promoting global tourism. It has currently some 20,000 members in 480 Clubs in 89 nations. The first Club was founded in Paris in 1932 by travel managers following a tour of Scandinavia. SKAL International’s General Secretariat’s headquarters is based in Torremolinos, Spain.

In his speech, the Cebuano DoT Secretary said, “There are new opportunities in Cebu, not only because it is my home province, but because it continues to be the number one tourism brand of the country, common to all markets where we pushed the Philippines in travel fairs.”

He said there are many challenges that the industry must face but despite these perennial challenges, Cebu’s tourism growth continues to grow as more opportunities come in for the province.

“China will be a big opportunity for Cebu this year and for the years to come and part of our agenda from the very beginning is to push more tourist traffic here in Cebu,” said Durano, who also made mention of the new direct flights from Cebu to Shanghai.

Shanghai Airlines launched its maiden direct chartered flights to Cebu from Shanghai last week, a twice-weekly shuttle expected to bring in an estimated 9,000 additional Chinese tourists to Central Philippines every year.

“We anticipate a more vibrant tourism market growth in this region, with Chinese businessmen also looking at investment opportunities as well,” he added.

Shanghai Airlines will be deploying its 160-seater Boeing 737 for its Cebu flights.

The Korean market also continues to grow, Durano said, and airlines with flights to Cebu from Korea are asking for more frequencies to accommodate the number of Korean tourists booking flights to the province.

“The growth in Cebu has brought in more tourism players, world-class hotels and other facilities. This is the type of growth that we will strive to achieve not only here in Cebu but also for the rest of the country,” said Durano.

Meanwhile, Tourism Undersecretary for Planning and Promotions Edu Jarque revealed that a new market, the Turkish market, has started coming in to Cebu this week.

At least 220 Turkish tourists are coming in to Cebu by groups. The first of such group flew in last Monday and more will be flying here through the direct flights.

Jarque said the coming in of Turkish tourists is the result of a Tourism Fair attended by the DoT in Turkey recently.