Lapu-Lapu as sports tourism capital of Cebu

[DailyCore]

---

Lapu-Lapu City's hard efforts on promoting sports tourism is paying off nicely! The city got recognized by one of the top sports columnists of our nation!

THE GAME OF MY LIFE By Bill Velasco

Hosting the recent Davis Cup qualifiers for the second time this year is just the tip of the iceberg for Lapu-Lapu City. The city has major long-term plans to accelerate its transformation into an international destination for sporting events. And it’s spearheaded by a youthful first-time councilor who finally decided to join the political fray and advance an ambitious agenda for sports.

“I think it’s only fitting, since we are named after the country’s first hero, so we should be a home for modern-day heroes,” says Councilor Harry Radaza, chairman of the city committee on sports and youth. “We are partnering with stakeholders in tourism through sports to help them help us launch our programs. We are then using that as leverage to help kickstart our grassroots programs.”

Radaza, son of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and incumbent Congressman Arturo Radaza, convinced Plantation Bay Resort to invest in a world-class tennis court, while he scraped together the resources to get portable bleachers for the city. Those components, along with the help of Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) president and tennis player John Pages, made it easy to bring in the Davis Cup. The success of that pilot endeavor has encouraged Radaza to convince other big resorts in the city to invest in similar facilities for other sports.

His second landmark construction was the the Hoops Dome, a massive, 12,000-seat, fully air-conditioned basketball gymnasium sitting on a large open property within the city. A four-year project, the Hoops Dome has already hosted the Pinoy Pride boxing series of ALA Promotions (rent-free and tax-free), social gatherings, and a special musical performance by boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. It will be the venue for a regular-season PBA game between the Petron Blaze and Alaska Aces on Nov. 5. Radaza, himself a former basketball player, is hoping that since he built it, he’s hoping sporting events will come to Lapu-Lapu.

But edifices are far from being the sole agenda of Radaza. He is also establishing the Lapu-Lapu Oty Tennis Academy, through which he will provide coaches’ training for volunteers assigned by each barangay captain in the city. After six months, he will stage an inter-barangay tennis tournament with the help of private sponsors.

“We are using the impetus of an international event such as the Davis Cup as a launching pad for a community-based tennis tournament, and we are hoping to do this for other sports,” Radaza explained at a workshop this week celebrating Press Freedom Week in Cebu City.

Sports destination: Lapu-Lapu City - THE GAME OF MY LIFE By Bill Velasco - The Philippine Star » News » Sports

[DailyCore]

Another event!

Lapu-Lapu city to host pba game for the first time Petron takes on Alaska at Hoops Dome Nov. 5 - The Freeman » The Freeman Sections » Cebu Sports

[DailyCore]

While the rest of Cebu is sleeping on the job, Lapu Lapu is leading the cause for sports tourism in the province.

Giving sports tourism a push

This brings me to benchmark Cebu against Camarines Sur, a province that now claims to be the top tourist destination of the Philippines, beating the likes of perennial top tourist draws Cebu and Boracay! Camsur? Yes, Camsur! And what do they have there? Ironically, they’re relying on only one facility to draw tourists from both the local and foreign markets. It’s the Camsur Wakeboarding facility at the Camsur Water Sports Complex. Aside from the regular wakeboarding crowd, Camsur has already hosted two runs of the prestigious Ironman Triathlon, and they’ve also had a successful full-length 42K marathon that drew over 20,000 runners. Camsur? If you compare Camsur to Cebu, there’s virtually no comparison in terms of wealth, economy and over-all status. Yet they’re beating us in sports tourism. They can actually claim to be one of the top sports tourism destinations of the country. The irony of it all is that they don’t have other sports events that Cebu can host. So how can they beat us?

It’s really simple. They have a dynamic leader in Gov. L-Ray Villafuerte who has gone all out to positioned Camsur to become the sports tourism capital of the country. It’s a simple, focused thrust that they’ve worked hard on and have become successful. Everyone knows how much this has helped develop the over-all economy of Camsur. The once quiet town is now abuzz with their service industry busy with taking care of the tourists who come in by the droves. Hotels, restaurants, taxi operators and local retailers are enjoying the boom like never before.

But Cebu won’t take this sitting down, will we.? Lapu-lapu City Councilor Harry Radaza who is taking the initiative on making Lapulapu a sports tourism destination and a future sports power. And he’s working with the tourism segment of the city to get it done. They’ve brought the Davis Cup to Lapulapu twice this year alone. The Japanese came in March, and most of the city’s resorts were booked with Davis Cup-related tourists. The same thing happened last month when Chinese-Taipei paid us a visit. While the Philippines lost both ties, the clear winner was Lapulapu, its people and Cebu. Events like these have a direct impact on the businesses that thrive on tourism. Like Camsur, hotels, restaurants, retailers, beaches, pumpboat operators and the like all enjoyed servicing the sports fans and athletes who arrived. The Hoops Dome has hosted one edition of the Pinoy Pride series and is due to host another before the year is over. GerPens Promotions had a boxing event last night and SGG Promotions is coming over on October 15. The major plus for these events is that these will be aired on national TV, an automatic huge plug for the city. Coming on November 5 is a PBA game which will finally be played in an air-conditioned venue here in Cebu, a first Cebu sports history. Goodbye to the “New” Cebu Coliseum for PBA games. There’s a real “new” kid in the block and it’s out there in Gun-ob, Lapulapu City. Mark that name down. Triathlons? Marathons? Beach Games? All that, coming soon.

Giving sports tourism a push - BLEACHER TALK By Rico Navarro - The Freeman » The Freeman Sections » Cebu Sports

[Ferrari 430 Scuderia]

mayta madayon nang naa sa crossing sa 1st bridge kanang nay tarp dha kanang mga proposed project. zzzzzzzzzzz