Tuesday, January 23, 2007 Tourism fails to meet target income in 2006 By Grace L. Plata
INCOME and other benefits generated from four of the five central economic services of the Davao City government has increased considerably in 2006, ushering a fresh and strong start for this year.
Based on data gathered from the Office of the City Administrator, only the tourism industry did not meet its target income last year.
But the four other economic services that include investment generation, employment services, business registration and agriculture have posted remarkable increases.
Economic benefits from tourism industry reached P5.4 billion last year, a decrease of eight percent from P5.9 billion in 2005.
A total of 388,013 tourists arrived from January to November in 2006, registering a decrease of six percent as compared to the same period in 2005 with 413,033.
On the other hand, six investment applications were approved and granted local incentives, generating an income of P1.7 billion last year or an increase of 13.3 percent from P1.5 billion posted in 2005.
These investments have generated 2,132 direct and indirect jobs, posting a decrease in employment generation by 6.3 percent as compared to same period in 2005 with 2,266.
The city's employment services also referred over 15,955 jobseekers, of which 11,921 were hired, registering a "take-in" rate of 75 percent. In 2005, 11,291 had been referred to for employment.
Agriculture services benefited over 14,827 farmers through the technical assistance on agricultural production. A total of 18,725 farmers have also benefited through the distribution of various quality planting materials while 960 female carabaos, cattle and swine have been artificially inseminated from January to March 2006.
As for business registration, 31,609 business permits were issued from January to November in 2006 with a 7,69 percent increase compared to the same period in 2005, which totaled to 29,352.
A total of 76,793 employees were declared by these establishments as employed, registering a 6.42 percent increase compared to 2005's 72,159.
For 2007, the renewal and application of business permits ended on January 20. Records show that from January 2 to 5, a total of 9,525 permits have already been released, with collections amounting to P6,226,116.61.
