Cebu hotels near capacity for Sinulog

Hotel bookings for Sinulog 2026 are running close to capacity in key parts of Cebu City, underscoring the festival's enduring economic pull even after a year disrupted by typhoons and an earthquake, according to industry and tourism officials.

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Occupancy for the Sinulog weekend is nearing 90 percent to fully booked across hotels in the Cebu Business Park (CBP) and downtown areas along the procession route, with some properties already halting online sales, said Mia Singson-Leon, president of the Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC).

Bookings arrived earlier than usual and have remained steady, broadly matching last year's performance despite calamities that weighed on meetings and leisure travel in recent months.

"After the disasters, we saw cancellations across meetings and leisure travel, but Sinulog weekend held firm," Singson-Leon said in an interview. People come to Cebu specifically for this festival."

This year's Sinulog is expected to be more contained, with tighter limits on street activities and contingents aimed at improving crowd management and safety. The scaled-down format has shifted demand toward city hotels rather than resort areas, reinforcing Sinulog's role as a short but concentrated boost for the urban hospitality market.