Open skies to improve Davao’s trade and tourism

Davao is the southernmost international airport of the Philippines. Yesterday the regional director of the Department of Tourism informed that Davao will soon become a gateway for more international flights.

DoT’s goal is to bring 6.6 million foreign tourists to the Philippines by 2016. To achieve the 6.6 million visitors the Philippines need to use other international gateways like Iloilo and Davao International Airport. The capacity and the georgraphic position of Manila’s NAIA are not suited to achieve this goal.

The 6^th Transport Ministers meeting of the Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), was held in Cagayan De Oro on July 28^th.

Davao has some good cards in the tourism poker:

Aside from the 8 kilometer river cruise along mangrove trees that directly benefit the communities around it, Tagum City also has a 7-hectare aviary, and a 30-hectare eco-tourism park with over 1000 species of trees.

“Eco-tourism really is the branding of the Davao region and it entails projects like these that involve the community”, the regional director of the Department of Tourism observed.

[Editor’s comment:] Eco-tourism definitely is the future of tourism, especially in this part of the world.