AN OFFICIAL of the Davao Tourism Association (Data) urged tourism stakeholders to continuously promote tourist destinations in Davao Region even if travels for leisure are still restricted.
Data president Gatchi Gatchalian said this will keep the region's tourist destinations in the consciousness of the public.
"We have to continuously promote the entire Davao Region. We don't want to be forgotten. It is not after GCQ (General Community Quarantine) but we have to do it now when we have the time. Because when GCQ is lifted, everybody will be doing their own promotion," he said.
He said there are still destinations in the region that people have not visited yet and by promoting the tourist sites, it will also help the people decide where to go as soon as travel will be allowed.
"We have to hype the interest because we know the travel confidence is very, very low. But if you send them pictures, let them whet their appetite, and tell them these are the places that we have to look forward to," Gatchalian said, adding that there are still tourist spots in the region that need to be rediscovered.
He added that now is a good time to promote tourist destinations since there is no overcrowding yet of similar promotions.
"If we will be doing all these marketing all together, there will be a clutter. Now, we will tell them, 'Have you been here?', 'Have you tried these?', 'Have you eaten this?' because everybody is still scared but let us show them something to look forward to with the very, very positive things about Davao Region," he said.
He also encouraged the tourism industry to use their free time to innovate with their products and services as well as outline their recovery plans.
"The time given to us, we should have tried to make sure that we should come up with a recovery plan," he said.