DAVAO CITY - Cacao farms can be potential tourism attractions in Davao City, according to cacao stakeholders in the city.

Noted cacao grower and chocolate-maker Charita Puentespina said that many visitors including other growers from other places would like to see the cacao farms in Davao City.

“They would like to see what we have not just in Malagos but in different areas we also have good quality beans like they would go to Malabog, they would go to Sirib (Calinan) we have good farms for tourism,” Puentespina said during her guesting at Kapehan sa SM Davao on Monday (Nov. 7) to promote the upcoming National Cacao Congress which will be held in Davao Citys this Nov. 24-25.

She added there is a tourism program which teaches farmers how to serve tourists when they come visiting their farms.

Farm tourism is part of thematic tourism destinations in the region under the Regional Tourism Development Plan of the Department of Tourism-XI.

As a supplementary document to the RTDP, the Regional Farm Tourism Action Plan (RTSFAP), 2020-2022  outlines the priority programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) of the DOT to develop and promote farm tourism in Davao Region.

Farm Tourism is envisioned to provide additional income for farmers and fisherfolk and promote the agriculture profession as a lucrative venture among the younger generation.

Davao City is well known for the quality of it cacao beans which are the source of chocolates. It contributes to 38% of the total cacao production in the region, while the Davao Region's share is 80% of the total national production of cacao.

One of the best-known farm tourism destinations in Davao City is Puentespina’s famed Malagos Garden Resort which is the home to the famed Chocolate Museum, where visitors can experience cacao tourism that include the Tree-To-Bar guided tour of the museum, farm, and its facilities inside the resort. 

“The Malagos Chocolate Museum is one of the best in the world,” says Dante Muyco Jr., a cacao grower and also the current chairperson of the National Cacao Congress Technical Working Group.

“I bring my clients from other countries to visit Malagos and they are saying that the chocolate museum is the best chocolate museum in the world,” Muyco said.

According to his visitors even the chocolate museums in Europe doesn’t come close to what we have in the museum in Malagos.

“Our cacao and also the chocolate museum is something we Dabawenyos should be proud of,” Muyco added. (PIA/RG alama)