Mayor Rama to Meet Hotel Execs on Hiked Rates During APEC Meetings

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said Monday he will meet with Cebu hotel executives to hear their side on complaints on hiked rates during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit meetings which Cebu will host starting on the later part of this month.

Some 3,200 delegates are expected to converge in Cebu for the APEC senior ministerial meetings.

Earlier, APEC organizers complained about the hotel rate increase during the summit.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Laura del Rosario appealed to hotel managers and the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Region 7 to do something about the hotel room rates.

She said the increase was as much as 120 percent.

For instance, a deluxe room that went for PHP4,530 last August 5 was expected to cost PHP11,000 a night during the APEC meetings.

“It should not be too much. There is always the so-called supply and demand but there is also the so-called fair and reasonable,” Rama said.

Hotels in Cebu are known to increase rates during peak months such as the Sinulog festival in January and the Chinese New Year.

Rama said it is acceptable for hotels to have special rates, like what they do in the annual Sinulog celebration, but it should not be more than double the regular rates.

Cebu Provincial Information Officer Ethel Natera said officials of the five hotels where the meetings will be held sent a letter to APEC 2015 National Organizing Committee (NOC) Director General Marciano Paynor Jr. explaining how they come up with the rates. (PNA) LAP/EB