Mayor (Leonardia) upbeat on MICECON effect to Bacolod

MAYOR Evelio Leonardia has expressed confidence that Bacolod City will surely benefit from its hosting of the 2018 Micecon or Meetings, Incentive Travel, Conventions, and Exhibitions Conference in August.

“We are thrilled by this distinction. We know that this is really something big in the tourism world. This is like a new discovery that can catapult our city to unprecedented heights in the tourism industry,” Leonardia said.

“Hosting the Micecon is like joining the big league in the industry. This is also in line with the projection that tourism is going to become the biggest industry in the world. So we are preparing the city for that eventuality,” the mayor added.

The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) declared Bacolod City as the winning bidder in the hosting of the 2018 Micecon.

The TPB and Micecon National Organizing Committee conducted a two-day ocular inspection of the SMX Convention Center, various hotels, and tourism facilities here on April 26 to 27.

The ocular inspection was led by TPB Mice Department and Concerns officer-in-charge Teresita Landan, Micecon 2018 project manager Jasmin Parra, and Micecon Organizing Committee members Karen Miranda, Sherdoll Bayona, and Nica Tolentino, and Department of Tourism-6.

They were assisted by Councilor Em Ang, chair of the Sangguniang Panlungsod Committee on Tourism; City Administrator John Orola, and City Tourism Officer Ma. Elma Gerasmo.

At a welcome lunch for the TPB and Micecon Organizing Committee, Leonardia underscored the Bacoleños’ warm smiles and unique hospitability, as part of the city’s tourism pull.

“Hosting this Micecon should be just the start, something that should spark that tourism revolution of sort,” he said.

“Now that we will have Micecon, I feel that we can even now have a more scientific approach in our tourism plans,” he said. (PR)

Article from sunstar.com.ph