I agree with TS but I didn't like the facts he laid out.
First of all, we are Cebu. We have too much divided attention for everything. We are busy being a business district while cramming on making a saving face of our tourism.
I think its wrong to compare Japan and Cebu. Income wise, you're talking about Megashark versus the Great White. One more thing, Japan is a country, Cebu is a god damn province. You hear me?
The time for tourism in Cebu is over (in hyperbole). Being someone who has been born in the 90s, I can tell when going to beaches around Cebu was still fun especially back when I was a kid. When we talk about beaches and resorts long ago, we talk about Lapu-Lapu, Liloan, Danao, Minganilla, Talisay, etc.. Pero karon, where are those tourist destinations now? They're still there, some are declining but the active ones are in the rural North/South. Sometimes we just tend to forget that they're there and they're actually better than the ones in central Cebu.
Cebu went into industrialization after year 2000. We're juggling too many things with little income especially in the central area. Pili lang ta, tourism or industrialization? I prefer Industrialization because tourism can sit somewhere in the north or south of Cebu.
How about you try comparing Cebu and Boracay? Now thats a comparison EXCEPT that Boracay is too small to be industrialized, leaving Boracay to focus their efforts on tourism. While Cebu on the other hand, is too big, plenty of raw materials and is too industrialized. No time and resources to focus on Tourism anymore.
Even with tourism in central Cebu declining, I'm totally proud of this place. The people, the beaches (even though the best are pretty far), the culture, the camaraderie is just awesome.