CEBU CITY, Cebu, April 14 (PIA) -- The Department of Tourism, along with airport officials, local government officials, and other key stakeholders in the tourism industry, welcomed a batch of 300 Korean travelers at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport on April 13.

The foreign tourists are members of the Korea branch of UNICITY, a direct selling company on health functional foods, cosmetics, and household items with over 60 markets globally.

UNICITY-Korea annually dispatches a sizable number of incentive groups to Southeast Asian nations as a means of rewarding their best agents, salespeople, and distributors.

The company is sending a total of 1,400 personnel to Cebu this year in four batches on April 9, 13, 17, and 21.

These Korean visitors are staying in Cebu for the entire month of April as part of the Department of Tourism's (DOT) marketing initiatives in partnership with the Philippine Department of Tourism in Korea and the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) to encourage tourists to visit the country again and to promote the nation as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) destination.

The welcome rites were led by no less than Tourism Sec. Christina Garcia Frasco, where she considered the arrival of Korean travelers as a significant development, especially in diversifying the country’s tourism portfolio through multidimensional tourism.

Frasco also emphasized the potential of many other places, like Bohol, in luring incentive travelers from Korea and other nations and expressed optimism that the travelers would be able to fully enjoy the beauty of Lapu-Lapu City and the Province of Cebu.

The tourism chief was joined by DOT Usec. Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, Usec. Ferdinand Jumapao, OIC-Usec. Verna Buensuceso, Lapu-lapu City Mayor Junard Ahong Chan, Lapu-lapu City's lone district Representative Cong. Cindi King-Chan, MCIA General Manager Julius Neri, and GMR Aboitiz Chief Executive Officer Rafael Aboitiz. (RGC/PIA7 Cebu)