DOT confident to achieve 150k Kadayawan visitors

THE regional office of the Department of Tourism (DOT) expressed confidence it can achieve its tourist arrival target of 150,000 local and foreign visitors during last week’s celebration of the 31st Kadayawan Festival.

DOT 11 director Roberto Alabado III told reporters Saturday at the sidelines of the Indakindak sa Kadalanan that occupancy rates among hotels and other accommodation establishments in Davao City most likely reached 100 percent.

“We have been talking with the hotel industry players and they have been reporting a very healthy hotel occupancy rate. Others reached 100 percent even as of last month (July), how much more now during the Kadayawan?” he said.

The DOT has yet to release figures on tourist arrivals duering the Kadayawan. He added that a week before the festival, they had received information that tourists were finding difficulty in booking for hotel rooms.

This was expected, he said, as more tourists both local and foreign are joining the Kadayawan every year.

With this, Alabado thanked all who celebrated with the city during the week-long celebration.

He also noted that for this year, the surge of tourist arrivals can be attributed to the growing interest of people on Davao City being the hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte who served as its mayor for over two decades.

He also said that during the Kadayawan, a lot of meetings and conventions were held in the city which also contributed to the city’s tourist arrivals

Kadayawan executive committee co-chair Arturo “Art” Boncato, Jr., for his part said that this year’s celebration which was made simple but meaningful is achieved as the festival was really highly focused on the culture of the 11 tribes of the city.

“We offer this festival to all of you,” he said.

He added that they see the availability of more rooms, more flight connections and greater attention focused on Davao City as some of the major factors to contribute on the expected bigger crowd during the festival.

“The celebration will affirm the position of the city as destination for tourism and investment,” he said.