DAVAO CITY, July 6 (PNA) - Local tourism players are working to entice Korean tourists back to Davao, promoting this city as a sports and shooting destination.

Korean tourists have been avoiding this city since the 2003 twin Davao bombings.

Jennifer Melocoton, past president of the Davao Association of Tour Operators (DATO), said Koreans called the province a "honeymoon destination" before the explosions at the airport and wharf here in the early part of 2003 and the Valentine's Day bombing this year.

Melocoton recently joined the country's team in a tourism sales mission to Korea, where they promoted the city as a prime destination for sports, particularly diving, golf and shooting.

"It would be different if you promote Davao for sports tourism because people who love sports will continue to come, with or without security threats," said Baby Montemayor, chair of the Southern Philippines Tourism Council.

"Davao tourism industry players are trying to patch the shattered image by participating in international tourism sales missions organized by the Department of Tourism (DOT) to bring the "country's tourism products to where the market is," she added.

DOT targets to draw in over one million Japanese tourists nationwide by year 2008. At present, only 450,000 Japanese are coming to the country each year, less than 30,000 or 40,000 of whom go to Davao.

Boncato said it's still too early to talk of numbers, admitting it might take years before their efforts pay off. "We'll start counting our gains years from now," he said, "If the country will attract a million Japanese tourists, we will have to find out how many of them are coming to Davao."

The Philippine Airlines offices in Hongkong, Korea and Japan have agreed to charter flights to Davao next year, to bring in a planeload of golfers and divers and other sport enthusiasts here. The Hongkong flight will come in time for the 2006 Chinese New Year while tour operators from Korea will conduct a familiarization tour here by July and August this year. (PNA)