#MINDANAO
The recently launched Davao to Quanzhou (Jinjiang) direct flight on Xiamen Air and Davao – Hongkong flights via Royal Air brings Mindanao even closer to global tourism and trade markets.
This twice weekly Davao-Quanzhou flight links a major Chinese city in the province of Fujian to Mindanao’s principal metropolitan area. With a population of almost 40 million, green and scenic Fujian province is the ancestral home of millions of Filipinos. A trip to Jinjiang can connect by rail to the nearby cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou for a nice reunion with family roots. The province is also an industrial hub for new and emerging technologies.
The Davao-Hongkong flight makes the 25 million island economy of Mindanao more accessible to travelers and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and balikbayans from North America, Europe and the Middle East can connect from various destinations through the global hub at Chek Lap Kok international airport. This links Davao to another international gateway.
These flights will not only carry passengers, it can also carry fresh fruits like the very popular durian to these destinations, bringing Mindanao’s flavors to foreign tables. A direct air link makes perishable shipments like fresh fruit and seafood possible. Tasting Mindanao whets their appetite to visit the island.
Likewise, direct flights bring tourists. The recent opening of world-class resorts in the Davao gulf, the prospects for Mindanao’s tourism reaching even more varied markets have become brighter. Direct international flights to the city makes marketing these resorts easier.
These flights also facilitate the influx of more investments in the island as entrepreneurs and executives can easily visit Mindanao to explore opportunities in agribusiness, information technology and manufacturing. The Davao region, being half of the P2 trillion Mindanao economy, is a good place to start.
The benefit of direct air links for tourists and businesspeople is that it saves precious travel time that they do not want to waste connecting through other gateways with tedious layovers and the feared transfer of terminals through Manila airport where heavy luggage needs to be offloaded and checked in again. Obviously, direct flights are preferred.
Durian Summit
With the recent Durian Summit in Davao last Oct. 27, it looks like Mindanao’s durians will see an uptrend in demand, partly driven by social media popularity in many countries. Mindanao’s varieties will now stand alongside popular variants. It is durian’s time to shine and its demand has nowhere to go but up.
Is Halloween on the wane?
I have noticed a slight wane in this year’s Halloween “celebrations.” The once very popular Oct. 31 holiday has been dropped by a growing number of families in favor of a “Parade of Saints” being undertaken in various Roman Catholic parishes on Nov. 1. Many Catholics are now advocating the practice of parading saints as exemplars of hope and redemption rather than ghostly symbols of fear and death.
The full Catholic celebration of the Feast of all Saints on Nov. 1 took on a significant meaning in today’s confusing world, as Catholic Saints exemplify virtue that goes against the pleasure driven confusion that is often foisted upon us. I think the growing popularity of the Parade of Saints is due to the efforts of some Catholic family organizations such as Couples for Christ and its family ministry Kids for Christ who organize the event for children. It may have caught on in parishes.