THE Tourism Promotions Board is optimistic it will be able to attract 500 in-person delegates to this year’s Philippine MICE Conference , thereby raise the profile of a tourism destination in the south.
“We strongly believe and claim that Davao’s hosting of the MICECON will provide a tremendous boost to the city’s tourism industry and a huge step towards its own vision of making Davao a preferred MICE destination, not only in the Philippines, but in Asia,” said TPB Chief Operating Officer Maria Margarita Montemayor Nograles, who also hails from the city.
Davao City actually won the bid to host MICECON 2020, but didn’t push through because of the pandemic. Instead, an online MICECON was hosted by TPB in October that year, which attracted 1,331 virtual delegates. Data from the DOT showed tourist arrivals in the Davao region reached some 5.22 million in 2019, but plunged to 1.39 million a year later as government imposed both domestic and international travel restrictions due to the Covid pandemic.