DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Tourism Office expect at least 100,000 visitors this month with the upcoming Araw ng Dabaw celebrations.
City Tourism Officer Lisette Marques made the estimate based on the monthly average of visitors to the city in the first two months of the year at 95,000
With the special event like the Araw ng Dabaw, the number could easily bloat to more than 100,000, she said.
“Usually visitors also schedule conventions and seminars with the Araw ng Dabaw festival in mind,” she said.
While some conventions do not request assistance from the CTO, she said they already monitored five conventions this year.
“These can be as big as a convention with 3,000 participants or as small as 20 people but are decision makers like CEOs (chief executive officers) of companies,” said Marques during a press conference at the City Information Office.
Marques said they have no accurate occupancy reports out of the 200 establishments but she said the city’s 160 hotels with “tourism value” can accommodate guests during the Araw festivities.
Marques said that the City’s short-stay hotels and inns can also accommodate guests to as much as 300 percent the number of bigger hotels, depending on the number of hours each guest chose to stay.
Marques said that special guests such as Mayor Reynaldo San Pedro of Bulacan with 20 other officials already confirmed their presence with a scheduled signing of a “sisterhood agreement” with Davao City.
“The Mayor (San Pedro) will also be a judge on the Mutya ng Dabaw beauty pageant,” she said.
She said popular bands Brownman Revival and Sandwhich will also perform during the Araw.
Marques said Congressman Roman T. Romulo of the lone district of Pasig will also arrive in the City in March 14 and other personalities may also visit the Araw but that she “was not in liberty to say.” (davaotoday.com)
