With Davao City’s attraction to South Korean culture, it is no longer surprising that there is a growing community of Korean nationals in the city.
Speaking during the Tourism Capacity Building Workshop by ASEAN-Korea Center (AKC) in partnership with Philippine Department of Tourism under the theme of ‘Branding Davao as a Competitive MICE Destination on January 9, 2016 at Marco Polo Hotel Davao City, Davao City Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta expressed optimism on Davao-Korea relations, that with the 24.45 percent of Korean tourist arrivals in the country last year, thousands have visited Davao City.
“Davao City is blessed to have a growing Korean community,” she stressed.
Councilor Acosta added that Korean pop culture is very popular in Davao City citing one Korean novela hit that a lot of Davaoeños, young and old, are going after.
She also pointed out the numerous Korean restaurants in the city to choose from.
Meanwhile, in an interview with DOT-XI Regional Director Robert Alabado, he said the AKC chooses five countries each year to collaborate with and this year, upon the recommendation of Raul Hernandez, Philippine ambassador to Korea, AKC has chosen Davao City to be the recipient of AKC’s assistance on MICE program.
Also speaking during the Tourism Capacity Building Workshop Department of Tourism under the theme of ‘Branding Davao as a Competitive MICE Destination on January 9, 2016 at Marco Polo Hotel Davao City, AKC Secretary General Kim Young-sun expressed his gladness as he shared his experience in going to Davao City’s tourist destinations .
He said he enjoyed his stay at Pearl Farm Resort, calling it the “best” tourist destination in the city and Durian as one of the most delicious fruits in the region.
According to Gwen Javier, Assistant Secretary for Tourism Regulation, Coordination & Resource Generation (TRCRG) of DOT, from January to September 2016, Korea is still the biggest visitor-generating market with arrivals summing up to 1,091,646 covering 24.45 percent of the total tourist arrivals in the country.
“Koreans are one of the biggest tourism receipt contributors to the county where they spend an average of $170 per day. For the length of stay, Koreans stay around six to seven days in the country enjoying our beaches, learning English as second language, shopping and enjoying the sights and sounds of the Philippines,” said Javier.
She added, in the previous collaborations, AKC has assisted the Philippines in conducting Korean language course in Pampanga in 2013. In 2014, the two countries had the ASEAN Tourism: Human resources development seminar in Davao City.
“We thank AKC for today’s seminar on MICE Tourism which is one of DOT’s nine product portfolio or main tourism products and we also thank them for choosing Davao as the venue as Davao is one of the country’s main MICE destination,” stated the assistant secretary.
During the workshop, tourism experts delivered lectures to share Korea’s experiences in becoming a competitive MICE destination and in conductive effective online marketing to approximately 100 MICE professionals from both private and public sectors.
It was followed by a roundtable discussion with policy makers and professionals in the Davao tourism industry, where they exchanged views and explore joint collaborations between the two countries.
