After a week-long stay in Gangwon, South Korea, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia sealed a commitment from both provinces to bring business opportunities into their areas.

Gangwon Governor Kim Jin Sun visited Cebu in October last year and expressed his willingness to sign an agreement with the Cebu province.

Garcia said the sisterhood relationship between the two provinces could not have come at a better time, now that Cebu has Koreans coming to the city in droves. Continue…

Cebuano top runners Mendel Lopez and Leszl Gitaruelas made it to the top 10 against the almost 32, 000 runners in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon yesterday.

Lopez, 23, a Geodetic Engineering student from the University of Southern Philippines Foundation, landed fourth in the combined field of men and women in the 10K category. He crossed the finish line at 34 minutes and 17 seconds, 10 seconds behind the third placer from Hong Kong (34:07). The second finisher, who clocked at 33:47, is also from Hong Kong, while the top finisher from China finished the race at 33:42, said Lopez. GMANews

Nederland’s Website features Cebu X 2008Cebu X / Cebu International Furniture & Furnishings ExhibitionMar 6-9, 2008, Cebu City, Philippines

A leading furniture Mecca in Asia, Cebu is also one of the safest and most secure places to do business. A small island with numerous sea and air linkages, Cebu has long been the ideal gateway for doing business in the Philippines. With clear blue skies, world-class resorts and holiday spots, booming economic and export zones and an electrifying milieu, you might think this place has it all, but then there’s more.Read the rest of this entry

APART from its growing industries, western Cebu is positioning itself to become the next favorite tourist destination in the province.

Rep. Pablo John Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said the towns of Barili and Aloguinsan have strong potentials to lure tourists because of the presence of several natural wonders in the towns.

Garcia said the Provincial Government and the Municipal Government in Barili are in talks to develop Bolok-Bolok Mineral Spring into a spa facility. Continue…

IF you think you know all of Cebu’s secrets, think again.

Strawberries are being grown in a pioneer farm in the west coast town of Balamban. The plants bear fruit between January and April.

A 500-square meter strawberry farm sits on a mountain slope in sitio Putol, barangay Magsaysay, about 64 km from Cebu City.

The farm houses almost 5,000 strawberry plants of different varieties. The three-year old project, is still in the experimental stage, but it has shown a lot of business potential, according to Jose Bebelonio Pepito, chairman of the Barangay Unity Key to Integrated Development Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Bukid-MPC), which operates the farm. More…

Cebu will expect more international flights starting this year, as the Department of Tourism (DOT) seriously sees the need for the province to add connecting flights in prospective tourism markets abroad.

“Cebu lacks international flight connectivity, which makes Cebu an expensive tourism destination,” said DOT chief Joseph Ace H. Durano.

According to Durano adding international flights is an urgent need for Cebu these days in order to sustain its attractiveness to the foreign tourists. The Freeman

The Seoul Times

In winning its bid to host a biennial international tourism forum scheduled for October in 2008, Cebu’s tourism industry will receive a boost amid the growing competition for tourists in the region.

Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, in a press briefing held on Feb.5, said the hosting of the 6th International Forum on Tourism for Parliamentarians and Local Authorities would increase global awareness of Cebu and Bohol. More…

Wilson Ng, Ng Khai/NGenius/Esprint President, writer and blogger, after writing for more than 20 years have found a new creative outlet to express ideas through a new comic strip.  After years of observing and reading about hundreds of companies in various situations as they resolve office politics, and relationships, he has assembled some  of his most memorable anecdotes into a comic strip called ITS NGenius!  View the first dozen or so strips in his Bizdrivenlife Blog.

The goal is to create over one hundred strips and put into book form to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the start of Ng Khai Development Corporation.

See yourself in the various hilarious and comical situations which can also be educational in this new ItsNGenius

business strip stories.  Here is one example:

A grander Kabayo Festival, which has been renamed to the “Governor’s Cup 2008,” will come off the wraps on February 15 at the Mandaue Reclamation Area beside the Cebu Doctor’s University campus.

Antonio V. Quisumbing, director of the Cebu Equine Owners, Breeders and Sportsmen Association (Ceobsa), said the event will be bigger this year with the Cebu provincial government as their partner in organizing the event.

“We are expecting at least 80 participants coming from Masbate, Ormoc, Davao, Malaybalay, Bukidnon, Impasugong, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro, Luzon and Dumaguete,” Quisumbing said. Continue…

CEBU can maximize its potential as a leisure destination in Asia if it has more entertainment facilities, such as theme parks, a tourism official said.

Department of Tourism (DOT) 7 Director Patria Aurora Roa said the presence of family-oriented theme parks, like Hong Kong Disneyland, would entice the market for leisure-seeking tourists. More…

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he plans to build a lighthouse off the coast of the South Road Properties (SRP) as new landmark with the lower portion used as a worship area for Muslims.

“It will have to look very Cebuano… It will not be an eyesore,” Osmeña said.
“We need to create an icon for Cebu. We should stop using the Fuente Osmeña or the Magellan’s Cross.” Continue…