Direct flights to Davao seen to boost tourist arrivals

Direct flights to Davao seen to boost tourist arrivals

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Category: Tourism

Published on Sunday, 25 August 2013 18:13

Written by Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

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DAVAO CITY—Thanks to budget carriers increasing their flights and to new developments in the local hotel industry, Davao City is on track to reach its target of 1.32 million tourist arrivals for 2013.

This news came as the city held its annual Kadayawan Festival from August 9 to 18 amid security threats, which almost forced Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City to cancel it.

The festival, which celebrates the bountiful harvests and cultural heritage of Davao’s 10 tribes, was estimated to have attracted an additional 30,000 visitors to the city, according to Arturo P. Boncato Jr., Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 11 director.

Davao City is among the top 10 destinations in the Philippines, with the number of visitors growing rapidly because of the city’s position as a meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) center in the country.

Last year it recorded 1.6 million visitors, up 71 percent from the 700,000 visitors who arrived in 2008.

Almost 95 percent of those who visited the city in 2012 are domestic tourists, while the rest are balikbayan, South Koreans, Japanese and Chinese.

“We attribute [the increase in arrivals] to budget airlines and to new players in the hotel industry. We now have a convention facility [SMX Davao Convention Center]. We have 7,000 rooms now and more hotels are being built,” Boncato said.

These rooms include those of the newly opened Radisson Park Inn (200 rooms) of the SM Group and Ayala Land’s Seda (186). Two hotels will open by November: Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes’s Tune Hotel, which has 150 rooms; and the
locally owned JTC Tower Plaza, which has 311.

According to Boncato, the only way to diversify the composition of tourists in Davao is for international carriers to mount direct flights from their countries of origin.

“We’re working very hard to attract new [direct] connections from [South] Korea, and hopefully from China,” he said.

The tourism official also said that, at present, the only international flights that arrive at the Davao International Airport are those from Singapore via SilkAir, “but it is a co-terminalization with Cebu so they fly Singapore-Cebu-Davao or Singapore-Davao-Cebu. And the regular stream of traffic we get, they come here for businesses primarily, and tourism secondarily.”

Data from DOT Region 11 showed that about 567,000 visitors arrived in Davao City in the first half of 2013, up 10 percent from 514,427 visitors in the same period the year before.

For the entire region—which is composed of Davao City and the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley—Boncato said 1.76 million tourists are projected to come this year, from 1.6 million in 2012.

Besides positioning itself as a MICE destination, Davao has been aggressively promoting its ecotourism attractions, especially in foreign markets, by using its “Islands to Highlands” brand.

Among these attractions are Samal Island in Davao del Norte for snorkeling, white beach and paragliding; mountain climbing in Mount Apo; the Tibolo Cultural Village, which showcases indigenous tribes; diving in the Davao Gulf; and spelunking, ziplining, wakeboarding and skimboarding in various sites in the region.

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In Photo: A group performs a dance during the Indak-indak sa Kadalanan competition on August 17. The contest was part of Davao City’s annual Kadayawan Festival, held from August 9 to 18. (Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo)

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Direct flights to Davao seen to boost tourist arrivals