Davao tourism stakeholders to launch six-point agenda

REELING FROM the impact of the martial law declaration in Mindanao, but encouraged by the visitor turnout during the Kadayawan Festival last August, tourism stakeholders led by the Davao Tourism Association (DATA) will launch a six-point Davao Turismo Agenda during the Davao Turismo Conference (TCON2017) on Sept. 22 at The Pinnacle Hotel. The agenda focuses on marketing, product development, service, financing, government relations, and industry support. “We want to come up with a Davao Tourism vision and this will somewhat give us the right direction and all of the tourism players will be guided by this direction,” said Renator Gatchalian, Jr., DATA president. “We have to prepare Davao City for any eventuality. The recent martial law declaration really affected all of us in the industry. With being resilient we did a lot of things and we were so happy (that) the Kadayawan sa Davao turned out to be a very successful one,” Mr. Gatchalian said. Cherry B. Al-ag, president of the Wellness Association, said the tourism industry is composed of not only the hotels and the restaurants, but also tour operators, the wellness industry, transportation, academe, allied services, and shopping malls, and it is important to consolidate action plans. “We even have a member in DATA, the dog lovers association, because they bring people to our city,” said Ms. Al-ag. —