Business leaders in Cebu highlighted the island province’s robust economic recovery and promising developments across various sectors in 2024. They lauded the year as a transformative period, marked by growth, resilience, and strategic innovation. While the Philippine Statistics Authority has yet to release Cebu’s official 2024 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures, a November 2024 report indicated that Cebu achieved a milestone GDP of P1.01 trillion in 2023.
THE year 2024 exhibited a mix of growth and challenges. Business leaders in Cebu highlighted the island province’s robust economic recovery and promising developments across various sectors, concluding the year on a positive note.
They lauded 2024 as a transformative period, marked by growth, resilience, and strategic innovation.“Cebu did very well in 2024,” said Jay Yuvallos, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, emphasizing the province’s steady recovery since the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. While the Philippine Statistics Authority has yet to release Cebu’s official 2024 Gross Domestic Product growth figures, a November 2024 report indicated that Cebu achieved a milestone GDP of P1.01 trillion in 2023. Lapu-Lapu City led growth with a 9.4 percent increase, followed by Cebu City at 8.3 percent and Mandaue City at 7.6 percent — all outpacing the Central Visayas regional growth rate of 7.3 percent.'These figures underscore Cebu’s resilience despite ongo ing challenges,” Yuvallos said. “In any given time, good or bad, there are always winners and los ers. But the general sentiment is that we have recovered.”The Philippine economy expanded by 5.2 percent year-on year in the third quarter of 2024, a slight deceleration from 6.4 percent in the previous quarter. Headline inflation dropped to 2.3 percent in October, with core in flation at 2.4 percent, reflecting continued stabilization.Cebu City also experienced easing inflation. In November, the city’s headline inflation rate fell to 3.3 percent from 4.2 per cent in October, bringing its year to-date average to five percent, slightly lower than the 5.2 per cent recorded in November 2023. “Cebu’s economy and trade showed resiliency, especially with the slowing inflation to within target range. Overall GDP registered decent growth, which means positive improve ments to the daily lives of the general population,” said Ste ven Yu, former president of the Mandaue Chamber of Com merce and Industry .The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas played a pivotal role in supporting growth by initiating its first interest rate cut in nearly four years. The central bank reduced the key policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent in August, followed by additional cuts in October and December, bringing the rate down to 5.75 percent by year-end. Yu noted that these reductions lowered borrowing costs for businesses and individuals, stimulating investment across sectors.Tourism’s performanceTourism, a key economic driver for Cebu, saw significant gains in 2024, fueled by domestic travelers.According to Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, Cebu welcomed three million tourists and generated P38 billion in receipts as of September 2024.“In Cebu, domestic travel sur passed pre-pandemic figures but international arrivals remained below expectations,” said Yuvallos, emphasizing the need for stronger strategies to attract global travelers.The Department of Tourism reported 5.64 million international visitor arrivals by mid-December, falling short of its target of 7.7 million.Alfred Reyes, president of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu, stat ed that the Japanese market has yet to recover while Chinese tourists have completely disappeared, with no alternative markets stepping in to fill the gap.“We have Taiwanese tourists but their numbers are far from that of Chinese,” he said.Cebu’s current top three tour ist source markets are Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Reyes also not ed the growing role of domestic travelers, who now account for 40 percent of resort occupancy compared to just 20 percent be fore the pandemic.However, city hotels and re sorts in Mactan are engaged in intense price competition, with resorts often matching city hotel rates to attract guests.Moreover, competition from direct international flights to Bo hol is also adding pressure.“2024 was a challenging year for the accommodation sector,” he said.Transformative yearMeanwhile, the year 2024 also saw intensive adoption of artificial intelligence in businesses. Mark Anthony Ynoc, president of MCCI said businesses are increasingly recognizing that AI is not a threat but a powerful tool to enhance productivity, innovation, and competitiveness.He stated that business es that embrace AI see it as a partner in their journey toward growth and resilience.Melanie Ng, area vice presi dent of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Vi sayas described the year as “a transformative year:’“Business agility, diversifica tion, and innovativeness played a big role in determining the state of businesses,” she said, adding that these factors will continue to shape the business landscape in 2025.Property sectorMoreover, the property sec tor in Cebu thrived in 2024 with notable investments from luxu ry developers. Shang Properties launched its first residential proj ect in Cebu featuring two premium residential brands while DMCI Homes committed P30 billion to develop Kalea Heights.Ray Manigsaca, president of AppleOne Properties, stated that robust growth in the property sector is driven by increasing demand for residential and office spaces.“Cebu is proving to be a worthwhile and favorite location for investors as more businesses relocate to this province for various reasons,” he said.Anthony Gerard Leuterio, founder of Filipino Homes, noted that healthy growth was driven by robust interest from both local and overseas Filipino workers .“OFWs remain a strong market segment,” he said. “Engaging effectively with OFWs will be the key to tapping into this market’s full potential.”Ann Leslie Ngo, president of Worldwide Central Properties Inc., stated that strong demmand for affordable housing has buoyed the local real estate sector along with tourism recovery and significant infra structure development.Despite its successes, Cebu faced several challenges in 2024 including high interest rates and evolving consumer hab its within the real estate sector; port congestion hampered trade efficiency; and climate change continued to threaten infrastructure stability.Ynoc expressed optimism about an upcoming international port in Consolacion, which could address logistical bottlenecks and support future growth following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr:s signing on Dec. 18 of several gov ernment infrastructure project agreements including the P17-billion New Cebu International Container Port in the northern town, designed to alleviate port conges tion driven by significant com merce growth at existing ports.A stable power supply emerged as another key issue during the year highlighting Cebu’s need to increase power capacity for sustained growth. Yuvallos pointed out that energy-intensive industries like manufacturing and business process management will drive future growth: “The major input is always power... If power is unreliable then risks increase significantly.”
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