MICE bookings make up 31% of tourist arrivals in Davao City

Around 31 percent of the total tourist arrivals for January to April this year is attributed to Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions (MICE) activities in the city.

City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) Officer-in-Charge Jennifer Romero, during the ‘Turismo Dabawenyo’ program aired over the Davao City Disaster Radio on Tuesday, said that a total of 661 MICE-related bookings were recorded during the first four months of 2023 which is equivalent to 105,297 individual MICE participants.

Romero said the city’s efforts to position Davao as a premier MICE location has started to reflect on the number of tourist influx this year. From January to April, a total of 340,128 tourist arrivals have been recorded.

Romero said the CTOO continues to promote the city as an ideal MICE location by finding more suitable venues for large-scale conventions.

“We are looking forward also, as we progress, na naa pa tay additional MICE venues na mas dako. Kay kung naa ta’y mas dako na venues, mas maka-cater ta og mas dagko na grupo (We are looking forward also, as we progress, that we will have additional MICE venues that are bigger. Because if we have bigger venues, we will be able to cater to larger groups),” Romero said.

Aside from convention venues, the CTOO is also working on institutionalizing regulations and specifications for accommodation establishments in the city. This is because certain hotels, inns, hostels, and motels often do not meet the specifications in terms of size, services, and design to be called as such.

Romero said regulations in this sector are needed to avoid any confusion in terms of logistics.

Since Kadayawan season is only a couple of months away, Romero said MICE bookings are expected to rise significantly.

“During Kadayawan season, mao pud na mu-spike ang mga MICE bookings kay makabalo pud ang atoang mga MICE groups na they will take advantage of holding their events in time for Kadayawan kay para they can also join at the same time (We also see a spike in MICE bookings during Kadayawan season because our MICE groups will take advantage and hold their event in time for Kadayawan so that they can also join at the same time),” she said. CIO