THE Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) recorded a 31.25 percent hike in income generated from licensing tourism establishments in the first quarter of 2017 to P2.1 million from P1.6 million in the same period last year.
City tourism head Generose Tecson said during Wednesday's Habi at Kape at Abreeza Ayala Mall that the income gained during the first quarter is already near the P3 million target set by the city for this year.
"We are positive that we could reach our target by middle of this year," she said.
The increase in the city tourism income, Tecson said, can be attributed to the booming tourism climate with more domestic and foreign tourists visiting the city.
Based on the CTOO latest data, the city's tourist arrivals increased by 13 percent to 459,104 for the first quarter of 2017 compared to the 405,576 arrivals recorded during the same period last year.
Bulk of the tourists were domestic tourists at 423,714, followed by foreign visitors at 29,889, and "balikbayans" or Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) at 5,501.
The tourism hike was largely noted in March when the city was celebrating 80th Araw ng Dabaw with 166,451 visitors, an increase of 13.13 percent against March last year.
She added that a surge in tourism arrivals can be expected considering the nearly-concluded, private-public sector initiated, Visit Davao Fun Sale (VDFS) 2017.
The VDFS 2017 runs from April 16 to May 31.
Tecson also said that the city needs more tourism-related investments including hotel chains, tourist transport, convention centers and theme parks.
The city currently has some 9,000 accommodation rooms. The figure is expected to grow with the entry of numerous local and national hotel firms.