City Government of Davao Information

DAVAO, the city of blooms from islands to highlands, is the site of the 25th ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF), which will be held Jan. 13-21. Indeed, Davao City is blooming and booming. Investments in terms of total capitalization of businesses continued to surge from only P62 billion in 2000 to P69 billion in 2001, P80 billion in 2002, P84 billion in 2003, and to P118.5 billion in 2004. The sharp growth was evident in the city's tourism, construction, agriculture, and export sectors. Tourist arrivals based on air passenger traffic and hotel occupancy volume have been increasing since 2000. Davao City's tourism receipts as of the first semester of 2005 amounted to P5.22 billion, up 13 percent from P4.62 billion in the first half of 2004. Also, this city has recorded an unprecedented increase in the value of private building construction, hitting P7.4 billion in 2004 from only P773 million in 2001. So did exports, rising to $993 million in 2004 from $848 million in 2003 and $738 million in 2002, with the balance of trade further widening in Davao City's favor. "These figures are making Davao City even more attractive to tourists, many of whom are corporate executives and entrepreneurs on vacation who can't ignore a business opportunity when they see one," said ATF 2006 secretary general Daniel Corpuz, executive director of Philippine Convention and Visitors Corp. Davao is the capital of the Southern Mindanao region and one of the world's largest cities in terms of land area, spanning 244,000 hectares. This sprawling metropolis has emerged as the business, investment and tourism hub of Southern Philippines. Citing Davao City as the next pillar of Philippine tourism, Tourism Secretary Robert Ace Durano said it was President Arroyo's personal choice as the venue for ATF 2006. The 25th ATF is expected to significantly boost Mindanao's economy and prop up investor confidence in the region and the rest of the Philippines. Imagine the kind of international exposure that Davao City and the rest of Mindanao will gain from the ...