INLAND RESORT IN DAVOR SOON

DAVAO ORIENTAL – The soon-to-rise inland resort in Mati City, Davao Oriental is expected to complement the rise of tourist arrivals in the province.

Governor Nelson Dayanghirang led on Monday, January 13, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Capitol-run inland resort at the sprawling eight-hectare property owned by the Provincial Government at the Provincial Tourism Complex in the City of Mati. Two hectares of which was recently acquired by the province from the Menzi Farmer’s Cooperative.

The improvement of the Tourism Com plex into an inland resort was among the approved big-ticket projects by the Provin cial Development Council (PDC) with a total project cost of P200 million.

Out of the earmarked budget, P165 mil lion has initially been appropriated intended

for the first phase of the project which will cover the construction of three dormitories, six units of family villas, storage and laundry, coffee and souvenir shop, a swimming pool, and a function area dubbed as “Kanato Hall”.

Aside from these facilities, the resort will also feature a massive convention center with the capacity to accommodate around 1,000 guests. With this, the province looks forward to host huge events and attract more

tourists in the city and province.

Over the past few years, the tourist arrivals in the province have steadily increased. From 800,000 tourist arrivals in 2018, it grew to more than a million in the 2019. The figure is expected to go higher this year amidst the many development in the province, including the much-anticipated approval of the province’s bid for the inclusion of the Pujada Bay in the City of Mati as one of the most beautiful bays in the world as well as the highly anticipated operation of the Mati City Airport.

More than being another tourism comeon which complement the city and the province’s beautiful tourism destinations, the inland resort hopes to address the shortage of accommodation facilities amidst the growing tourism especially during the peak season.

“We cannot afford to simply wait for investors to locate and invest here. Since it is

our interest to accommodate our visitors, I thought why not the provincial government invest instead,” said Dayanghirang, adding that the facility will be another source of revenue for the province. “We serve the needs of our tourists and at the same time we earn,” he added.

“Of course, we know that the influx of tourists also means generating more income for the province and would also help in creating more jobs,” said the Governor.