Davao City Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte is confident that the city will be able to accommodate a potential increase in tourist arrivals next year as both the Ironman 70.3 triathlon and Kadayawan Festival are scheduled to take place in August.
When asked how the city would manage international contingents attending the triathlon, together with the surge of tourists for Kadayawan, Duterte said to “just let tourists come” to Davao City.
“This is all that we have, just let them [tourists] come here… we’ve been very used to that already and the Ironman has been already held for three consecutive years, now’s the fourth year, nothing has changed, so things will most likely be the same,” Duterte said during the Ironman 70.3 launch press conference at Matina Enclaves, Davao City on October 25.
The city mayor also said that the city is always prepared to host huge international events,
“I just want to assure everybody that we’ve already done this the past three years and it’s proven to be very successful. There may be hiccups along the way but I think it’s natural for this event, for this game,” Duterte said.
“There are things that cannot be avoided but what we can do is set parameters to make it clear that we’ve done our part before and after the event,” he added.
As for Princess Galura, Ironman Group Philippines regional director, she said that for next year’s event, they will be in constant communication with the city regarding the Ironman contingents’ arrival.
“Technically yung alam namin, we will inform the city, ito puno, ito di puno, so kayo, ma-aadjust niyo rin yung mga ganap ng Kadayawan, kung saan kakain at mga major events, as soon as what malaman na like, we are thirty percent full na, malalaman namin kung saan pwede namin ilalagay yung mga participants namin (We technically know where to put our contingents, which will benefit Davao City in adjusting events in accordance with Kadayawan celebration. As soon as we know, say, the accommodation is on 30 percent capacity, we will know which specific hotels we will put our participants),” Galura said.
Galura also lauded the consistently successful hosting of Davao City: in 2018, 2019, and 2022 editions of the event, and commended Davao’s strategic location in Mindanao and its stable climate, favorable for both spectators and participants.
Notably, Davao City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Jennifer Romero expressed optimism that arrivals will increase with next year's events in the city. She added that next year’s Kadayawan and Araw ng Dabaw are expected to draw more tourist arrivals.
She also said that the increasing tourism arrivals trend is a promising indicator of the city's recovery. ICE