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At the First Tourism Jobs Fair held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on April 6 to 8 , Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said more than 34,000 jobs are available to college graduates in Manila, Cebu and Davao in the first quarter of 2006 alone.
The prestigious Bohol Beach Club in idyllic Panglao Island has been recently refurbished and expanded to accommodate corporate meetings and other large group events.
Tony Ceniza, resident manager of the first class resort located in Barangay Bolod, Panglao said 80 new rooms were opened in March 2006 on top of the original 88 rooms to serve corporate clients that intend to hold outings, functions, conventions, seminars and conferences in an exclusive setting.
"Built within a 60-hectare enclave with 1.5 kilometers of white-powder beachfront, Bohol Beach Club is an ideal place to inspire team building," he said.
Ceniza said the same exclusive setting has attracted corporate clients like Globe, Smart, Wyeth, Chowking, Tupperware, and CDO Foodsphere Inc.
Recently, it has hosted the 17th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Association of Meat Processors of the Philippines, Inc. (PAMPI), which groups the 35 largest food processors in the country with combined revenues of P60 billion annually.
About 100 company executives from the 35 companies attended a three-day convention at the Bohol Beach Club from March 30 to April 1, where they discussed the future of the local meat processing industry, Ceniza said.
Felix Tiukinhoy Jr., president of PAMPI, said the group was impressed by the personalized service at the club. "We liked the place for being well-secured that allowed us to relax in an exclusive realm," he said.
Ceniza said the club's conference facilities include different functions rooms, designed to seat from 40 to 200 individuals.
The club also has a business center, which offers secretarial services, photocopying, facsimile machine, computer scanning, Internet access, among others. Overhead projector, slide projector, white board, and other video equipment are available upon request, he added.
Corporate guests, he said, can relax at the club's swimming pool and other recreational facilities such as outdoor Jacuzzi, tennis court, billiard hall, darts and chess. It is also just a few minutes away from the world-famous diving spot of Balicasag Island.
Ceniza said Bohol is now being considered the next prime tourist destination in the country, after the crowded Boracay.
A proof of this, he said, is when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo tendered a state dinner for visiting New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark at the Bohol Beach Club on March 14, 2006.
President Arroyo also released PhP25 million to conduct a survey and partially acquire lands for the future Panglao International Airport.
 Data from the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas showed that the number of foreign tourists who visited Bohol went up by more than 8,000 or 30 percent to 35,118 in 2005 from only 26,921 in 2004.
Top foreign guests in Bohol last year were from Taiwan, the United States, Japan, Korea and Germany. In particular, the number of Taiwanese tourists surged by 124 percent to 6,404 while American tourists went up by 30 percent to 4,213.
Tourists from Japan grew by 3.6 percent to 3,780 while guests from Korea increased by 1.5 percent to 3,609. German travelers posted a higher increase of 21 percent to 2,709.
Aside from Panglao and Balicasag, other top attractions in Bohol include the 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped Chocolate Hills, the town of Corella which is home to endemic tarsiers, and the diving spot in Cabilao.
Panglao is approximately thirty minutes by land from Tagbilaran City, the capital of Bohol. Tagbilaran can be reached in two hours by plane from Manila or just 25 minutes from Mactan. It is also just an hour and a half away from Cebu City by ferry.
The Bohol Beach Club is operated by Tambuli Philippines Resorts, which also manages the Tambuli Beach Club, the Cebu Beach Club and the Blue Sky Sea Resort. PRESS RELEASE
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