The City Government of Davao and the Tourism Promotions Board on Thursday signed the Memorandum of Agreement ( MOA) ratifying the city’s hosting of the MICECon next year.
Davao City was meant to host the convention back in 2020 after winning the bid in 2019, but this was stalled by the pandemic.
In hosting the conference, the city aims to position itself as a “premiere MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibits) destination in the country and the ASEAN region” by demonstrating its “capacity and capability of hosting world-class conferences”.
Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Nograles, Philippine MICE Conference Governor Arnold Gonzales, Vice Mayor J Melchor Quitain, MICECon 2023 Davao Organizing Committee Co-Chair for Private Sector Kennedy Kapulong, City Tourism Operations Office Head Jennifer Romero, city councilors, public and private stakeholders attended the signing ceremony.
Nograles and Quitain led the signing of the MOA, finalizing the city’s hosting of MICECon 2023 to be held on March 1-3, 2023 which will also be the first hybrid MICECon.
Next year’s MICECon will have the theme, “MICEConverge, Blaze New Trails”.
The three-day conference will have a daily sub-theme that will feature different aspects of Davao City as tourism hotspot.
On Day 1, the MICECon will center around the natural beauty of the city with the sub-theme “Celebrate Nature.” Day 2 will highlight the cultural landscape of Davao with “Celebrate Diversity.” DAY 3 is themed “Celebrate Travel” and will promote the city’s tourist spots.
Nograles said it is “all systems go” for the conference in 2023. She added that the TPB “strongly believes and claims” that Davao City’s hosting of the MICECon will boost its tourism industry and contribute significantly to its continuous economic growth.
Nograles said that more than 500 delegates, foreign and local, are expected to take part in the conference next year. More than 1,000 participants will be virtually joining the MICECon.
Romero said the MICECon will usher in even more tourists into the city.
Quitain, reading Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s speech, said the “next time people think about business and leisure they will think of Davao, because the city has the infrastructure, tourism attractions, and capacity to hold both national and international events.”
“We believe that MICECon will help revitalize the Davao’s tourism sector and open more doors for businesses that will boost the whole region’s economic growth,” he added. CIO
