July 26, 2022
The City Government of Davao, through the City Tourism Operations Office, has accepted the new 25-year tourism road map formulated in coordination with the Palafox Associates in a ceremonial turn-over ceremony here on Tuesday.
The new tourism logo and branding, with the catchphrase “Definitely Davao,” was also unveiled during the event that was attended by City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, City Council Tourism Committee chair Al Ryan Alejandre, and Palafox founder Architect Felino Palafox Jr.
The Davao City Tourism Master Plan constitutes architectural and environmental designs for future infrastructure projects in a bid to make the city an even more attractive tourist destination.
The plan includes the proposed design for the Davao Waterfront Development of Sta. Ana port, the Davao Chinatown Night Markets in Tomas Monteverde, Davao Mountain Park in Marilog, and the Eco-tourism Adventure Park at Catigan-Eden-Toril.
The initial designs entail a total budget of P32 Billion, distributed across three phrases of the 25-year development process.
The first phase will focus on the development of urban tourism, with the Sta. Ana Waterfront Park and Chinatown Night Market projects. The Sta. Ana Waterfront development project includes a port capable of accommodating cruise ships, an amusement park, cable car stations, and shopping centers.
Aside from infrastructure development, the roadmap also includes the city’s tourism strategy for the next 25 years.
The new tourism campaign will start at the local level in the first three years and will build on the “urban core” of Davao City tourism. It will include the development of urban tourist destinations like parks, shopping malls and night markets which will be the first priority under the roadmap.
The campaign will then spread to the so-called “spokes” of the city, or the more rural areas where adventure eco-tourism will be enhanced and developed in Eden, Calinan and Toril. The third phase will start with the development of mountain tourism in the Marilog area. Each phase will have a timeframe of five to eight years.
Mayor Duterte congratulated the City Tourism Operations Office for the ceremonial turnover, and thanked the Palafox Associates for its work.
He said Davao City has been “progressing at an extraordinary pace” and that a tourism development plan was timely.
Duterte also said that the plan will be reviewed closely to determine the feasibility of the proposed projects.
The mayor asked local officials for their cooperation, saying the biggest challenges in the implementation of the master plan is the expropriation of public lands and the magnitude of the roadmap.
He said the roadmap is critical in keeping the momentum of Davao City’s growth. CIO
