DAVAO CITY — For Japanese tourist Shigata Kentaro, he immediately noticed Davao City’s cleanliness.
“My first impression of Davao City is that it is clean. I am actually coming from other parts of this country, but I honestly felt I was in another world. So I will recommend this place to other tourists,” Kentaro said when asked about his impression of the city.
Kentaro, who resides in Chiba and works as a tour guide in Tokyo, was awed by several activities they’ve enjoyed doing in the city.
“There are so many different kinds of activities we can enjoy, especially nature—like mountains, rivers, and coffee. I myself am looking to try as many activities as possible,” Kentaro said.
Kentaro was one of the several Japanese tourists invited by tour operator Jen Ramirez, who organized Davao Coffee Tours. Several Japanese tourists have been frequenting Davao City through the efforts of private tour operators, including Ramirez, who are trying to bolster international arrivals to the city.
“May Japanese guest kami na nag coffee tour, nung October nagdala siya ng sampu so 11 na sila na nag tour. Ngayong March may coming ulit na isang group mga 20 sila na Japanese. Ibig sabihin neto bumabalik sila sa mga tour. It means we are on the right track. Kasi yun naman lang kulang natin sa Davao is to promote (We have a Japanese guest who joined our coffee tour. In October, he brought 10 tourists, and now there are 11 on the tour. This March, a batch of 20 Japanese tourists is coming. They are returning to the tour, which means we are on the right track. What we lack here in Davao is promotions),” Ramirez said.
Ramirez says the travels they are organizing are story-based tours, introducing Davao City not just to visitors but also to locals.
“Pag ikaw mismo makilala mo ang lugar mo, ma pa-fall in love ka talaga sa iyung lugar, you will defend, you will protect and you will promote (If you get to know your city, you’ll fall in love with the place and you will defend, you will protect, and you will promote.),” Ramirez said.
Ramirez says her dream is for Dabawenyos to join their story-based tours, such as the coffee tour and Davao chocolate tour.
“That is my goal, that Dabawenyos can join our tours like the coffee tour or the chocolate tour, and they themselves will promote the city through word-of-mouth or through social media,” Ramirez said.
She said that for tour agency owners, producing ads is already getting expensive.
For Kentaro, Davao City has the potential to be a preferred destination for Japanese tourists.
“Japanese people like clean places, and in my opinion, this is favorable for Japanese tourists. They like a different climate, especially since this month Japan is in the middle of winter, everybody wants to go away from the winter cold,” Kentaro said.
However, he hopes there will be direct flights between Davao City and Japanese cities. But he said the city is worth visiting even if there are connecting flights, as he enjoyed the climate.
According to Jen, this is Kentaro’s second visit to Davao. On the first visit, he stayed for just two days. And for this recent visit, he allotted six days to explore Davao.
She said they are discussing ways to invite more Japanese tourists to visit Davao.
Meanwhile, as a strategy to attract tourists from Japan, the City Government of Davao, through the City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO), will launch this year the Furosato Tours, which takes visitors through various historical sites that show traces of a prosperous pre-war Japanese community in Davao City.
Another strategy is through the sport of golf. The First Davao-Japan Friendship Golf Tournament was held Dec. 5-6, 2025, and was joined by several golfing tourists from Japan. The event aimed to promote Davao City as a golfing destination with the presence of three golf courses in the city.
Based on Department of Tourism (DOT) and City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) records, Japan is the third largest foreign tourist market for Davao, following the United States and China. Based on CTOO figures in 2024, visitors from Japan constituted 15 percent of foreign tourist arrivals in Davao City. (PIA/RGA)