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The Queen City of the South has been on a roll and is expected to become the region’s economic catalyst over the next several years, thanks to a booming commercial sector and a robust tourism industry that has been luring local and foreign tourists and spurring hundreds of related businesses not just in the province but in the region as well.
In fact, according to Inquirer, almost 70 percent of the gross domestic product of Central Visayas comes from Cebu, powering the region’s economic growth. According to Cebu’s top officials, tourism will remain at the forefront of this economic boom and maintain its stellar industry status to help unpredictable weather forces so that the province’s economy remains resilient. And with last year’s opening of Terminal 2 of Mactan International Airport, Cebu and its nearby provinces seem on track, particularly on the tourism front.
The ideal home base for tourists and investors alike
Thanks to Cebu’s healthy economy, the province has become the go-to destination for both work and leisure. Some of the country’s leading property developers, such as Megaworld, have established their presence in the province and created their respective signature property development projects there. Case in point: The Mactan Newtown township, Megaworld’s luxurious and sophisticated integrated commercial and residential community in Lapu-Lapu City. Its new hotel and commercial area are fast becoming an ideal home base for tourists and business executives alike who yearn to have their footprints stamped in Cebu.
The Mactan Newtown is Megaworld’s biggest township in metro Cebu so far, providing premier residential communities with the finest amenities, an upscale hotel, premium commercial establishments, and office towers for business process outsourcing firms. Its urban landscape offers great opportunities, not just for BPO companies that want to invest in the province, but for tourists who want to explore Cebu’s tourism gems and those of its neighboring provinces.
The township will also be home to 200 mango trees that will co-exist harmoniously with office and residential towers. This feature is unique to Mactan Newtown as no other real estate development in Cebu province has done this in the past.
A commercial and tourism hotspot
Located in one of the province’s prime commercial and tourism hotspots, The Mactan Newtown is also a stone’s throw away from the province’s world-class international airport. The 28.8-hectare sophisticated integrated community has its own beachfront and comprises four high-end office buildings, nine luxury residential condominium towers that has a combined total of 1,655 units, a ton of leisure amenities and retail shops, beach facilities, an upscale hotel, and even a world-class learning institution called The Newtown School of Excellence, which is supervised by the Lasallian Schools Supervision Services Association Inc..
And with Cebu’s tourism sector reaching stratospheric heights, Megaworld plans to build five more hotels, including two by the beachfront at The Mactan Newtown. Another luxurious recreational zone that is expected to rise in the integrated township is an exclusive world-class beach club and sports hub located at the 11-hectare beachfront property formerly known as Portofino Beach, a joint project between Megaworld and Landmark, Inc.
Megaworld’s venture into putting up more hotels and recreational facilities is in line with Cebu’s exceptional tourism growth fueled by the continuing influx of visitors to the province. Lapu-Lapu City officials early this year noted that at least 2,000 more hotel and resort rooms are expected to be added to Mactan Island’s accommodation capacity to complement the existing 5,000 accommodation facilities in the island. Mactan Island has become a favorite investment playground among some of the country’s leading property developers.
Lapu-Lapu City continues to lure foreign tourists
John Kristoffer Rafols, OIS tourism officer of Lapu-Lapu City, confirmed in a forum in September 2022 that a growing number of Korean tourists occupy resorts and hotels in Lapu-Lapu City. From three to five bedrooms, Korean tourists in Lapu-Lapu City occupy around 20 to 30 rooms. This is a good sign for the tourism industry in the city, and more tourists coming from different parts of the country and the world are expected to visit the city and other parts of Cebu for tourism.
Cebu City remains the top destination for domestic travelers in the province last year, registering 1,650,762 visitors there, based on official figures released by the Department of Tourism office in Central Visayas. For foreign travelers, Lapu-Lapu City in Mactan Island was their top choice. There were 1,340,359 foreign visitors to Lapu-Lapu City last year, according to DoT figures.
With The Mactan Newtown’s strategic location, more and more local and foreign visitors, as well as future homeowners and tenants, are expected to make the luxurious integrated township their home base, thanks to Megaworld’s continued efforts to redefine the living experience in the township masterpiece. Homeowners and tenants at the residential towers at The Mactan Newtown enjoy spectacular views of the historic Mactan Shrine, Magellan Bay, and the Hilutungan Channel. Megaworld is currently constructing additional residential towers in the township, such as One Manchester Place, Eight Newtown Boulevard, and One Pacific Residence.
Countryside tourism boom
Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat early this year noted that the province’s remarkable growth in tourism could be further sustained by promoting Cebu as the go-to destination when it comes to hosting meetings, conferences, and exhibits and by putting them at the forefront of the tourism players’ marketing efforts. The province’s tourism-related infrastructure facilities, particularly its world-class terminals, as well as its strategic location and natural wonders, are often credited for the influx of a large number of tourists and investors to Cebu in the past decade or so.
Tourism’s role in Cebu’s booming economy has also empowered the province’s countryside and benefitted residents in those areas. These include popular tourist hotspots outside metro Cebu such as Oslob, Kawasan Falls, Sumilon Island, Bantayan Island, Malapascua Island, and an array of beautiful dive spots across the province.
Cebu’s air transport terminals accommodate close to 600 weekly international flights and almost 1,500 weekly domestic flights. Koreans remain the number one foreign visitors to Cebu and the nearby provinces in Central Visayas last year, followed by those from China, Japan, the United States, Taiwan, Great Britain, Germany, France, and Canada, according to the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7).
With the reopening of the commercial operation of the Loakan Airport in Baguio, flights to and from Baguio and Cebu are faster and easier. This paves the way for more tourists to quickly explore Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and discover what the Philippines offers.
IT and BPO industries, too
While Cebu’s tourism boom seems to be at the forefront of the province’s spectacular growth, the BPO sector and manufacturing industries have also contributed immensely to its economic development. Early this year, officials of Cebu IT-BPM Organization noted that they expect 2019 and beyond to be exciting years for the IT-BPM industry as current IT and BPO firms continue to expand their operations in the province. This is expected to generate more employment and spur further economic activities in the province.
Results Manila, one of the BPO companies that have set up operations at The Mactan Newtown, credits the province’s great pool of talented, educated workforce and their exceptional drive for exceeding customer expectations as some of the reasons why the firm has decided to establish its presence at the integrated township in Mactan Island. “We expanded our office in Cebu to allow us to diversify our locations for our clients and internal business continuity planning,” Kevin Betts, vice president for facilities development and administration of Results Manila, said.
One of the hallmarks of The Mactan Newtown is its cyberpark, which is home to several office buildings such as One World Center, where Results Manila has an office. Another international BPO company, Enfra USA, is housed at One World Trade Center. Other BPO towers in the integrated township are Two World Center, Eight Newtown Boulevard, and Pacific Garden Tower. Megaworld plans to put up between five to 10 more office towers at The Mactan Newtown by 2021, offering around 150,000 square meters of office spaces to accommodate an estimated 45,000 workers in the information technology-business process outsourcing sector.
Luring foreign and local investors
Cebu’s provincial government has been actively luring local and foreign investors to set up shops in the province, noting that Cebu not only promises its potentials but has, in fact, demonstrated its capability with its excellent economic track record. The province, particularly its major cities Cebu and Lapu-Lapu, continue to enjoy remarkable economic growth. On its website, cebu.gov.ph, it noted that Cebu’s export growth rate for the past few years has averaged close to 20 percent, which was considerably higher than that of the entire country and any other province in the Philippines.
The provincial government has pointed out that Cebu is the most accessible place in the Philippines, with more domestic air and sea linkages compared to Manila. It is also base to over 80 percent of inter-island shipping capacity in the Philippines. The province’s strategic location has made it the so-called tourism gateway to Central and Southern Philippines. It also has one of the best records in terms of peace and order in the country.
A prized labor force
The province’s labor force, on the other hand, is oriented towards non-agriculture lines and is one of the most productive in the country, Cebu officials noted, adding that the development of its infrastructure is balanced. In other words, it has all the ingredients necessary to be competitive and to sustain investments. Residents in the province, particularly those in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City, are said to be living a cosmopolitan lifestyle and enjoy all the support facilities and amenities needed for that kind of lifestyle.
Megaworld is one of the leading property development firms in the country and the biggest BPO landlord in the Philippines. It has pioneered the concept of integrated township projects in the country and has launched several signatures in the Philippines, setting the benchmark for 21st-century sophisticated sustainable living anchored on comfort, convenience, and accessibility.
