NEWLY-LAUNCHED mobile application Davao Guide is expected to help with the influx of tourists in Davao City as it is designed to make their visit in the city more convenient and informative, a city tourism official said.
Last Wednesday, March 15, in line with the celebration of the 80th Araw ng Dabaw, the Davao City Government headed by the City Information Office (CIO) Officer Jefry Tupas and City Tourism and Operations Office (CTOO) Head Generose Tecson, launched the mobile app Davao Guide.
“I think it will help with the influx of the tourists. They always say they lack information about Davao City but then here, it’s already nationwide and maybe even beyond, so it’s gonna be easy for everybody to have more information about us. When you go to Davao, you feel like you’re one of the natives here. You’re a Dabawenyo also,” said Tecson.
The mobile app was created by the Cebu-based company InnoPub Media in partnership with the Davao City Government and Smart Communications.
Max Limpag, co-founder of InnoPub Media, said the mobile app is a very convenient tool to help tourists decide what to do, where to go, and where to stay when in the city. Also, it keeps the user updated of the current and upcoming events in Davao City.
The app provides information about the heritage sites, nature parks and gardens, and other popular destinations. The tourist spots are arranged by popularity and they also include contact numbers and location information of the place. A directory of licensed tour guides in Davao Region can also be found in the app aside from the updates section where the administrators publish tips and the latest developments in the city.
The CTOO and the CIO will serve as the administrators managing the application but if ever locals would want to add tourist destinations that were not included in Davao Guide, they can recommend it to the two offices.
Limpag also said that together with the CIO and CTOO, they made sure that all the establishments found in the app are legal, licensed, and registered to avoid inconvenience in the part of the tourists.
“We look at it as the support of the tourism program of the city. We are working on the notification system,” Limpag said, adding that they are also working on the rating system in the application.
Tupas added these establishments undergo verification process first before they were included in the application. He said, aside from the promotion of these destinations, the app will also help the establishments improve their service for the intention of being visited more by tourists since they are seen by every user of the app.
Site markers containing quick response (QR) codes and near-field communications (NFC) stickers had been deployed in select areas like the airport and the city hall for easier scanning and access of information.
They plan to put QR codes and NFC stickers in more tourist areas in the city in the future.
Davao Guide is now available for free download from the Google Play Store and will be also available from the Apple App Store in a few days.
