DAVAO CITY—Tourist arrivals here have seen an eight-percent increase since its former mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, became President, the city tourism office said Tuesday.
City Tourism Officer Regina Rosa Tecson said in 2016, Davao recorded 1.85-million tourist arrivals, compared to the 1.73 million recorded in 2015.
Tecson said Duterte, who ruled the city for over two decades, became Davao’s “biggest endorser” the moment he decided to throw his hat into the presidential race in 2016.
Her office has even included President’s green-gated house as one of the city’s tourist destinations.
“People want to witness the ‘Exhibit A’ of the President,” she said, adding they have included Duterte as “one of the city’s icons” to attract more tourists.
“Before we only have four [tourist] icons—the waling-waling orchid, Mt. Apo, durian and the Philippine Eagle. Now we have five. The President is our fifth,” she said.
On this year’s 80th Araw ng Davao celebration, the city will be expecting more than 150,000 tourists “since Davao has been making waves after Duterte won the presidency,” Tecson said.
This year’s celebration will run for two weeks starting on March 1, and will even be extended to March 18, she added.
In last year’s celebration, Duterte made an emotional farewell to Davaoeá¹…os since it would be his last Araw ng Davao as mayor of the city, making a political sortie on the exact date of the party.