...the Cebu aspiration

Cebu to vie for top spot in 7 Wonders Cities of the World

 

Sun Star 

15 March 2012

CEBU – Cebu City may become even more popular among local and foreign tourists and may just land in the list of the New 7 Wonders Cities next year.

That is, if it can get enough votes to compete with big cities like New York, Paris and Tokyo.

As of Wednesday, Cebu City ranks second among 44 cities in Southeast Asia and Oceania in the search involving some 1,200 cities from 220 countries.

The search and online voting is being facilitated by the New7Wonders, the same group behind the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World and the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

Although it was the first time they heard about the search, officials of the Department of Tourism (DOT) Central Visayas, Cebu City Government and the Cebu Investment and Promotions Center (CIPC) welcomed the nomination.

“Just to be nominated, it would already help promote Cebu City as a tourist destination. Cebu City is different from other cities because for one, it is the seat of Christianity of the Philippines and despite being a highly urbanized city, Cebu City is able to preserve its past, its culture and heritage,” DOT Regional Director Rowena Montecillo said.

The CIPC and Cebu City Tourism Commission (CCTC) chairperson and Councilor Margarita Osmena also count the South Road Properties and the construction boom as contributors to Cebu City’s “wonders”.

The list of Wonders Cities in Southeast Asia is dominated by Philippine cities, with Vigan in Ilocos Sur topping the list, followed by the cities of Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod and Paranaque.
On the eighth spot is Sydney, followed by Singapore and Bangkok.

Montecillo said the DOT-Central Visayas will support the campaign to help make Cebu City one of the finalists.

The global online voting started last January with some 1,200 nominees from 220 countries. More than 300 cities will be chosen for the qualification phase (one from each country and the top 77 cities with the most number of votes).

From the top 77 voted during the qualification phase, the New7Wonders Cities panel of experts advises on the selection of the 28 official finalists. Voting for the finalists continues across three phases until 2013. The Official New7Wonders Cities will be announced on December 7, 2013.

No specific criteria were used for the search.

In their official website, Bernard Weber, founder and president of New7Wonders, said the world is experiencing a mass urbanization and for the first time in history, a majority of the global population now lives in cities.

“Given these dramatic developments, New7Wonders Cities will become a catalyst for discussing everything from urban planning to metropolitan governance, from tourism to architecture,” he said in a statement posted in cities.n7w.com, the website that hosts the voting.

For Mayor Michael Rama and Councilor Osmeña, Cebu City’s rich history and cultural heritage and its proximity to world-class beach resorts are just some of Cebu City’s wonders, but its main asset are its people.

“There’s no other place where you will find people who are as warm and hospitable as the Cebuanos, always ready to greet you with a smile. Cebuanos always make you feel welcome,” the mayor said.

“Cebuanos are hospitable and creative and they’re very proud to be Cebuanos… We respect and preserve what we consider old, our heritage, but we also easily adapt to anything new. We adjust to the rest of the world,” Osmeña said.

CCTC officials are excited about the benefits the city can reap from the nomination, just like the boost in tourism that Puerto Princesa City in Palawan reported when it was named one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature earlier this year.

“I just hope we’re ready for it… In terms of infrastructure, we could go faster, we need to catch up,” Osmeña said.

Like the councilor, CIPC managing director Joel Mari Yu said he is banking on the Cebuanos’ penchant for joining text or online voting in winning the search.

While Cebu City has been named by Tholons as one of the 10 best destinations for outsourcing business, and while it enjoys a distinction of “being a city embedded in a resort environment,” it needs to improve some of its systems, like drainage, traffic, garbage collection and public transport.

“Cebu City is a beautiful place but we shouldn’t compare it with other cities like Singapore because everything in Singapore is efficient… But since many of us are fond of online or text voting, I think we have an excellent chance of making it in the final list,” Yu said. (LCR of Sun.Star Cebu)