The Hotel, Resort & Restaurant Association of Cebu Inc. (HRRACI) is setting its sights beyond the fifth anniversary of the Cebu Tourism and Hospitality Awards (CTHA), an annual program created by HRRACI to recognize standout workers and organizations in Cebu’s tourism and hospitality sector.
The group is setting a five-year vision focused on making Cebu a globally competitive MICE destination and a training ground for world-class tourism professionals.
“Our vision is simple: Cebu as a globally competitive, people-driven tourism destination,” said HRRACI president Mia Singson-Leon.
Over the next five years, HRRACI aims to strengthen Cebu’s position in meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions, or MICE, while developing tourism professionals who choose to build their careers in the province. The group also wants industry growth to remain anchored in sustainability, culture, and community.
“We want Cebu to deliver service that can seriously compete with the top MICE destinations,” Singson-Leon said. “At the same time, we want to become a training ground for world-class tourism workers and grow the industry without losing what makes Cebu, Cebu.”
The vision reflects lessons from the industry’s five-year journey, which Singson-Leon described as a progression from survival to recovery and, ultimately, reinvention.
“Since the first CTHA, Cebu tourism has gone through three clear phases: survival, recovery, and reinvention,” Singson-Leon said.
The COVID-19 pandemic and Typhoon Odette brought Cebu’s tourism industry to a standstill, forcing hotels and resorts to close and displacing thousands of tourism workers. The recovery phase followed as hotels reopened, flights resumed, and businesses worked to rebuild traveler confidence.
“But we quickly realized that buildings alone wouldn’t make us competitive,” Singson-Leon said. “That’s why we entered the third phase: building our people.”
HRRACI is now placing greater emphasis on service excellence, leadership development, and sustainability through training, career development, and efforts to promote Cebuano stories through hospitality.
“To compete globally, especially in MICE, you need more than facilities. You need people with skill, heart, and consistency,” she said.
The fifth CTHA marks that shift, Singson-Leon said, as Cebu seeks to strengthen its identity beyond leisure tourism and compete for more business and international events.
“This fifth CTHA milestone represents that evolution. It marks our shift from being known just for leisure to positioning Cebu as the leading destination in the Philippines for both leisure and MICE,” she said.
This year’s theme, “Roots and Resilience,” reflects the industry’s emphasis on Cebu’s cultural identity and its ability to recover from successive crises.
CTHA chairman Ron Manalang, cluster general manager of Seda Central Bloc Cebu and Seda Ayala Center Cebu, said the theme recognizes both Cebu’s heritage and the industry’s ability to adapt.
“It’s honoring the heritage driving local hospitality forward while celebrating how the industry adapted, survived, and rebuilt itself,” Manalang said.
Infrastructure improvements, including the expansion of Mactan-Cebu International Airport and new hotel developments in Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City, have also supported the industry’s recovery, Manalang said.
Cebu is also drawing a wider range of visitors through MICE events and cultural tourism, while the industry increasingly focuses on sustainability and higher-value visitor experiences rather than simply increasing tourist arrivals.
“CTHA puts the spotlight on the people making this level of quality and maturity happen every day—with a smile, with heart, and with dedication,” Singson-Leon said. “This fifth year says: we survived, we adapted, and now we will lead.”
The CTHA recognizes excellence in seven categories: Front of the House Employee of the Year; Heart of the House Employee of the Year; Supervisor of the Year; Manager of the Year; Hospitality & Tourism Educator of the Year; Sustainability Champion of the Year; and Best Marketing Campaign of the Year.
Judges consider more than technical performance, looking for nominees who create lasting impact, mentor others, produce industry-ready graduates, generate measurable business results, or deliver meaningful sustainability initiatives.
Across the categories, the awards highlight service, discipline, and what organizers describe as the Filipino brand of hospitality.
For HRRACI, the CTHA has evolved from an annual awards program into a benchmark for excellence and a platform for encouraging tourism professionals to build long-term careers in Cebu.
As the organization enters its next five years, its goal is clear: attract more visitors and major events while building the skilled workforce and strong local identity needed to keep Cebu competitive as both a premier leisure destination and a leading MICE hub in the Philippines.
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