THE CITY Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) targets to register at least 250,000 local and international visitors for the month-long celebration of the 2024 Kadayawan Festival.
During the iSpeak media forum on July 25, Jennifer Romero, CTOO operations head, said the target arrivals can be reached given the line-up of Kadayawan events and the IRONMAN 70.3, which is also held in August.
“Hopefully we would be able to reach the number given the line-up of our Kadayawan events and plus the Ironman 70.3 also would be in August, so we will be hitting that number,” Romero said.
Nicole Hao Bian-Ledesma, Davao Tourism Association (DATA) president, said this will surpass last year’s arrival target of 200,000.
“In spite of the external factors we’re still very hopeful that this year we’ll be able to meet and surpass such targets,” Ledesma said.
Accommodation preparedness
Romero noted that Davao City’s tourist accommodations are also prepared to receive the expected visitors of the month-long event.
“As to the influx of the target tourists, may it be local or international, so far we are monitoring, and we are closely coordinating with the hotel associations, so there still hasn’t been a shortage of room accommodations. In fact, we are also checking their occupancy, and so far, still no advice on fully booked status within the period of our Kadayawan,” Romero said.
Ledesma noted that the city now offers alternate accommodations to expand its capacity to cater to tourists.
“Aside from Davao City, of course, when tourists come in, some of them would also consider staying outside of the city so they would also enjoy what the region can offer. For now, Davao is really ready to cater to such an influx of tourists,” she said.
She also highlighted the new tours, travel packages, community-based tourism sites and activities in the region.
“The Department of Tourism XI also has the Davao Adventure Challenge of which as of yesterday they have about 400 sign-offs already. That goes to show that aside from Kadayawan, tourists come here as there are other things to do and can celebrate together with us,” she added.
Improvements for event’s public view
Romero also emphasized the improvements they were working on after they received numerous public comments from the public during last year’s Kadayawan festival.
“One big improvement that we have discussed with the executive committee is number one, we will be putting back the mega tent because that is also the advice of our city mayor because the weather is very unpredictable, and he wants our spectators na mapasilungan in case,” Romero said.
She said the team had also decided to change this year’s stage orientation to expand the venue’s layout.
“We all know that our stage naka backdrop is the Unitop building, so no more Unitop this time. We would also be able to cater to more spectators as the stage will be fronting San Pedro Street. We will also maximize the Rizal Park area and we’ll be putting up more seats for the spectators,” she added.
The 39th Kadayawan Festival is set to kick off on August 8 and runs until Aug. 18, 2024, for the city’s major events.
Photo: Bing Gonzales
