23 Apr 2018
Travel consultants have warmed up to the new marketing campaign for Mindanao – Go South Philippine Islands – targeted at millennials and adventure seekers, although they believe that it will take time to entice travellers from overseas.
“We haven’t seen a marketing blitz for all of Mindanao for a long time so that’s great especially for the domestic market, but a number of countries still have travel advisories against certain areas in the south, citing the persistence of security issues,” a travel consultant commented.
Christine Constantino, reservation officer for domestic packages at Scorpio Travel and Tours, said the Go South Philippine Islands campaign could help shore up arrivals to Davao, which have dipped since martial law was declared there in May last year.
Bella Calleja, JTB Manila’s manager – corporate team 2 MICE, said that the inbound department is seeing more Japanese visiting Davao after Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe visited the home of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte last year.