The report of the Department of Tourism that domestic passenger volume at the Davao International Airport decreased by 1.5 percent in 2007 compared to the previous year should be checked.
I can not believe such figure. Both PAL and Cebu Pacific reported growth in this sector with the two air carriers even adding more flights and new routes to Davao in 2007.
The Air Transport Office should be the more reliable agency to dish out such air passenger stats, not DOT. In counting tourists, for instance, DOT gets its figures from hotel registry, not truly a believable source.
Davao City tourism industry leaders should get to the bottom of this report. Otherwise people could get the impression tourism is declining in the city, which is bad for its efforts to lure more visitors.
(5:33 a.m.)
