Davao City Planning and Development Office officer-in-charge Ivan Chin Cortez bared that a master plan has been commissioned for Barangay Mintal designed to enhancce its tourism potential banking on its Japanese influences.
Cortez said the draft has been submitted for comments already and once approved and accepted, future projects are expected to incorporate the” Little Tokyo” concept in the area.
Cortez is referring to the Tourism Master Plan of Barangay Mintal prepared by a leading consulting firm Berkman that was submitted to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA).
The Tourism Master Plan for Barangay Mintal aims to identify all the existing tourism resources and take into consideration the fragility of the existing natural and urban environment of Mintal, to suggest new and additional sustainable tourism products as well as to design and layout appropriate development programs that will help promote Barangay Mintal in its transformation as a major cultural and historical destination.
Moreover, all tourism development proposed shall be designed to be community based in order to raise the standard of living of the residents, be completely environmental, and sustainable through a strong recommendation to set up the appropriate institutional frameworks required to assure the continuity of the tourism and environmental projects.
The proposed tourism development program is envisioned to attract not only the foreign tourists, particularly the Japanese descendants of the former residents of Mintal, increased arrivals expected in Davao City due to the presence of President Duterte, the Filipino tourists, and, most especially, the local Dabawenyos.
Dubbed as “Little Tokyo,” the present infrastructure of Mintal needs upgrading to compete with the established tourist routes and destinations in Davao that include refurbishing of the Japanese historical landmarks, installing proper signage highlighting potential places of interest, constructing visitor information center, museum, and provide a place to showcase local culture and history, provide infrastructure and facilities to give strong barangay identity as a major tourism stop, provide additional infrastructure attractions catering to local and international markets, improve narrow paved roads, regulate traffic in narrow inner roads, improve local transportation system, establish restaurants and/or catering facilities for tourists, and establish tourist housing and/or accommodation facilities.
