Durano said the trend shows that Cebu gets half of the total tourists coming to the country.

Since the Department of Tourism (DoT) targets five million tourists by 2010, he said, Cebu could easily get two million of that.

However, he said, what Cebu needs to attain this much number of tourists is to provide enough accommodation for them.

The increasing number of tourists has also helped encourage investors to set up hotels and resorts, Durano added.

The planned reopening of Coral Reef Resort in Lapu-Lapu City on Mactan Island and the hotel beside SM City Cebu will help alleviate the shortage of rooms in Cebu, he said.

Coral Reef is now owned by the Philippine National Bank (PNB) after the bank foreclosed the property.

According to Durano, PNB would like to operate the property on its own because the PNB group of companies has a hotel chain.

"Since the (Coral Reef) villas could no longer be used, the plan of PNB is to build a 1,000-room hotel and to fully develop the golf course," he said.

Durano said that the SM group would attend to the planned operation of its hotel beside SM City Cebu after the Mall of Asia is completed.

He said the SM group is targeting the end of first quarter to open its huge shopping complex in Manila.

"After that is completed, they can move on to this property. But their plan here is to put up a convention center and look for a management company. It would no longer be Sheraton," Durano said.

Another upcoming project by a Korean investor is the 700-room resort complex in Mactan, he said.

Two other hotels, the Marco Polo Plaza or the former Cebu Plaza Hotel and the Parklane Hotel, are also set to open in the middle of this year.

Another plus for Cebu is the ASEAN Summit scheduled on December, Durano said.

"The ASEAN Summit will give further large exposure for Cebu. The holding of the meeting at such a high level will give a different level of exposure," he added.

During the ASEAN Summit, about 18 heads of states are expected to attend, he said.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Francisco Benedicto, a Cebuano, said that about five hotels have been identified to provide accommodations for the heads of states and other officials.

According to Benedicto, the venue of the summit is yet to be identified.

"I hope that the planned convention center by the provincial government will be completed," he said.

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has given assurance that the project will be completed in time for the Asean Summit.

Garcia said that the contract for the substructure has been awarded to WT Construction.

Other local governments also see the opportunity of promoting Cebu during the summit.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the city would spend millions of pesos for the foreign journalists who would cover the event.

According to Osmeña, these journalists would be senior ones since they would be covering the heads of state.

Because of this, he said, Cebu City would be promoted as a tourist destination through them.