DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/09 November) — Budget airline Cebu Pacific will inaugurate next month its Davao City-Singapore direct flight that is seen to strengthen the city’s bid as a tourism destination in the Asean community, an official of the Department of Tourism said on Monday.
In an interview at the sidelines of the Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City Davao, DOT 11 director Roberto Alabado III told reporters that the new flight, which will open on December 17, will benefit the Davao Region’s tourism industry as Singapore is known as a gateway to other countries.
This will encourage tourists in Singapore to come and explore the region, Alabado said.
“When it comes to tourism, air connectivity is really necessary because it opens up a new market towards Davao,” he said.
He added the region is a fresh adventure area for tourists to visit, aside from the Malaysia and Indonesia, saying that this opens a “new playground” for tourism destinations within Asean.
When it comes to business, the new air connectivity will also make it easy for the players of Brunei, Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area to go to Davao to look for investment opportunities he said.
“It’s going to be faster for the Malaysians to come to Davao City, as they don’t have to go to Manila, then travel down here,” he said.
The Lance Gockongwei-led airline company will service the route twice weekly.
He said travel operators in the city are already preparing tour packages that will cater specifically to Singaporean markets. The Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge during summer of next year will be positioned for the same markets as well, according to Alabado.
Aside from Cebu Pacific, Silk Air is also servicing the route, but it flies from Singapore to Davao via Cebu City. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)