COME visit Cebu. Visitors from abroad are now very much welcome here.This was the message of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to the delegates of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) during the gala dinner last Friday, April 22, that the Cebu Provincial Government and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas hosted to ADB board members and advisors during their familiarization visit here.“You are most welcome here in Cebu. We hope that your stay might be extended so you will discover the best natural sites, historical structures, and the culture and tradition of the Cebuanos,” Garcia told the delegates, composed mostly of foreign nationals.The governor encouraged the foreign visitors to visit the province’s shopping malls and other destinations, in a way to help in the economic recovery efforts here.She said Cebu has been longing for the spending power of foreign tourists after the more than two-year hiatus of foreign arrivals due to pandemic-related restrictions.Since the middle of 2020, the provincial government has been championing the reopening of Cebu’s tourism industry to local travelers. This year, the province has reopened its borders to foreign tourists.This year, the officials of ADB are back for their first familiarization visit since the Covid-19 pandemic, and Cebu is their destination.Every year, ADB board members and advisors visit an ADB-funded project in the Philippines to familiarize themselves with the host nation.In previous years, the group had visited ADB projects and met with local governments and private sector officials in Baguio City, New Clark City and Clark, Pampanga, Iloilo City, Coron in Palawan, and Davao City.One of ADB’s notable contributions to Cebu is the funding support to the construction of the Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport, which has since put the island of Cebu in the global airport map. MCIA has since received various local and global awards for its remarkable development.