Visitor arrivals in Davao reach 1M in 2012

THE number of visitor arrivals in Davao City reached 1.075 million last year, or a growth of 45 percent from the 2011 total of 744,275.

City Tourism Office (CTO) chief Jason Magnaye said this was the first time Davao City has breached the one million mark in terms of tourist arrivals, and attributed the big jump to the additional flights and establishment of structures like the SM Lanang Premier.

"We attribute this to the additional flight connectivity in Davao. We have additional flights," Magnaye told reporters at City Hall.

Magnaye said airlines have opened flights from Davao City to areas like Clark, Puerto Princesa, Kalibo, Butuan and Diplog and vice versa that allowed visitors to easily reach the metropolis.

Just like in previous years, foreigners comprised 10 percent of the total number of tourist arrivals for 2012, with domestic tourists accounting for 90 percent.

Magnaye said Koreans, Japanese, Australians and Chinese remained the city's top market.

"We were able to open new destinations, new attractions here in Davao," said Magnaye, who is also head of the Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCPIC).

He said for the month of March, they are expecting around 110,000 to 120,000 visitors to arrive as the city holds its 76th Araw ng Dabaw celebration. For this week alome, the city expects 30,000 of these visitors to come for the festivities.

In 2010, Davao City's tourist arrivals reached 682,821, making the metropolis No. 6 in tourist destinations in the entire country.