Davao Oriental readies tourism boom

Davao City – Now a priority of the provincial government, tourism is set to be the ingredient for the dawning of Davao Oriental Province.

Various stakeholders from the government, hotels, restaurants, transportation, travel, and communication gathered Wednesday (November 7) for the Tourism Development Stakeholders’ Forum held at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall.

“This is one declaration of the province’s serious commitment in developing the tourism sector of Davao Oriental,” said Provincial Governor Corazon Malanyaon.

The forum was attended by resource speakers who shared their thoughts, contributions, and commitment in helping the province develop this particular sector. Some of the invited speakers were Sonia Garcia, Joji Alcantara, Rhonson Ng, Alma Uy, Roche Angon, Claude Le Neindre and Sebastian Angliongto.

Malanyaon bared some of her personal favorites of the 79 tourist attractions that are all located in Davao Oriental. However, she would want to leave the planning and decision-making to the different stakeholders who deserve more rightly the power to draw the tourism development.

During the forum, the Provincial Tourism Council was formed as well as the drafting of initial plans on how to go about promotion and development. The group will also decide on what branding should be used to sell and promote tourist sites in Davao Oriental.

“We admit that the province is not yet that prepared in terms of resources to cater to the potential number of tourists that might come and visit us. This is one aspect that we will try to study and plan for without having to destroy that beauty and uniqueness of our tourists attractions,” she added.

One of the plans of the governor is to focus on the rich cultural heritage of the people to entice local and foreign tourists.