TOURIST arrivals in Davao City have increased by 9.95 percent (%) to 511,228 for the third quarter of the year from 464,985 for the same duration last year.
City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson said this increase can be attributed to the joint leadership of Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte as well as the tightened security in the city that leaves an impression of safety both to the citizens and the tourists. She added even the Dabawenyos, themselves, are aware that the security is everyone’s concern.
She added it the island is still under Martial Law and yet it has sustained the tourist arrivals even after the Kadayawan Festival in August.
This year’s Kadayawan Festival alone recorded a total of 185,660 tourist arrivals based on hotel occupancy. For January to September, the tourist arrivals had also increased by 6.03 percent to 1,444,067 from 1,361,968 January to September of last year.
Tecson added they are hoping that there will be a great influx of tourists in the city by December by as much as 300,000 in time for the holidays however even with the average number of holiday tourists at about 170,000, CTOO would already be happy with it.
“We do not fail to promote our city in social media and also with the roadshows that we conduct. We want to be able to tell everyone to come over to Davao and experience the New Year without firecrackers,” Tecson said.