DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The city government here hit its two million target in tourist arrivals last year.
Based on the Davao City Tourism Operations Office’s record, a total of 2,009,879 tourists arrived in the city from January to December 2017.
Generose Tecson, chief of the Tourism Operations Office, attributed the increase to the “strong partnership” between the local government and the private and public sectors, ”which was clearly seen during the Kadayawan Festival where the biggest increase in tourist arrivals was recorded”.
In August during the month-long Kadayawan Festival, the city noted a total of 185,660 tourists higher than last year’s 171,851 of the same month.
The number of foreign tourist arrival also showed an increase with 126,209 compared to 124,283 in 2016. The top 10 2017 foreign markets are USA (20,779), Japan (12,510), China (9,231), Korea (7,550), Australia (5,929), India (4,976), Singapore (4,040), Canada (4,016), UK (3,282), Saudi Arabia (2,371).
The number of returning residents or “Balikbayans” also doubled from last year’s 23,256 to 47,872 this year. (davaotoday.com)
