GREAT things are unfolding in the tourism front of the Davao Region, or so it seems, if one listens to the sector’s new steward, Regional Director Arturo Boncato Jr. of the Department of Tourism.
Indeed, Davao continues to make remarkable strides, even after attracting an estimated one million visitors last year, a fact vouched by hotel occupancy rates recorded by the DOT.
The successful holding last month of the Davao Cultural Festival in Beijing “featuring our local chefs and cultural performances“ seemed to have signaled the start of the good fortunes of Davao tourism.
Davao will be the only featured Philippine destination in the China Incentive, Business Travel & Meetings Exhibition this month. It is likewise the subject of the cover story of the Events Magazine in Beijing for the month of July and will be the featured destination in the subway billboard ad campaign of the DOT in Beijing during winter this year.
Also in August, Davao tourism industry players will host 10 tour operators and members of the media from Beijing. Within the same month, Davao will also host to Taiwan travel writers and filmmakers who will document the creation of floral floats during the Kadayawan. Also this month, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will host a dinner for participants of the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions) gathering in Cebu, as Davao City won the bid to host the same event in 2013.
September will just be as eventful. For the first time, Dabawenyos will host at least 100 foreign buyers coming for the Philippine Int’l Travel Exchange to include all DOT tourism attaches and marketing representatives from all over the world. During the same month, the local tourism players will touch base with the markets in Japanese Tourism Association (JATA ) 2011 World Tourism Congress and Travel Showcase where the Davao delegation will be part of the BIMP-EAGA pavilion.
In October, Dabawenyos and Cebu delegates will also “explore” the India market with a back-to- back sales mission to New Delhi and Mumbai.
“Our focus is to shake hands with the rest of the world so they will come. I would like to share with you a standing belief in China that it takes them at least three visits before they take countries seriously and actually begin to respond to invitations,” Boncato declared.
We are heartened by Boncato’s report and look forward to maintaining if not bettering tourism’s niche in our national life as the fourth dollar-earning industry of the country and its biggest employer.
However, we would be happier, if government authorities and their partners in the private sector will remain vigilant against the dark side of tourism. These include the spread of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, displacement of indigenous peoples and the already disadvantaged, and the breakdown of society’s moral fiber. These are just few of the grave issues which if left unchecked will surely negate the economic benefits derived from a vibrant tourism industry.
