The government of Japan, through its Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism (MLITT), is supporting Davao City in its bid to become a smart city with several projects implemented under the Smart JAMP (Smart City supported by Japan ASEAN Mutual Partnership) program.
The Smart JAMP initiative started in 2020 to help cities across ASEAN, including Davao City, address common urban challenges.
“As part of the smart JAMP initiative, feasibility studies have been carried out in Davao City in previous years to assess the implementation of specific technologies that address challenges such as flood control and traffic management,” says Chiaki Ohya, Director for International Planning for the Construction Industry of the MLITT, during the launch of the newest smart JAMP project, the Digital Davao Tourist Passport.
The previous studies undertaken in 2022 and 2024, with the collaboration of the Davao City local government, assessed the implementation of specific technologies like artificial intelligence, GIS (Geographic Information system) database, and a smart traffic system.
These studies include: introduction of an Automated Traffic Control System (Smart Traffic System), introduction of an AI-based water-level measurement system on existing river CCTVs, and improvement of flood management and drainage network efficiency using Blitz GIS – a real-time stormwater management system and analytical dashboard.
And the most recent MLITT supported project is the Davao Digital Tourist Passport App, which digitizes the existing Davao Tourist Passport into a MaaS (Mobility as a Service) app and aimed at tourists going to different tourist spots around Davao City, the app allows travelers to navigate city streets and booking integration of the transportation modes like taxis, TNVS (Transport Network Vehicle Service) and the High Priority Bus System (HPBS).
This is similar to the MaaS apps implemented in the tourist areas of Tokyo, Setouchi and Ise.
The Digital Tourist App is implemented by Scheme Verge, a Tokyo-based engineering startup and Yachiyo Engineering, a Japanese consultancy firm. Collaborating with their Japanese counterparts is the City Government of Davao through the City Tourism Operations Office and the private sector Davao Tourism Association (DATA).
The app uses Horai, a smart tourism and area management platform developed by Scheme Verge.
According to Ohya, the digital tourist passport app, like other smart JAMP projects, is undertaken by utilizing smart city technologies and the expertise of Japanese companies.
Transportation study
More than just an app for tourists, the data that will be collected from the use of the MaaS platform will be used for traffic management and urban planning.
“For example, visualizing tourist movement can help analyze the necessary public transport routes and frequencies. This makes the system more efficient and convenient. The traffic data can also be used to determine better layouts for roads and buildings,” Ohya said.
She said it is important that the app has many users so that it can have sufficient data.
Yasuhiro Yamauchi, of Yachiyo Engineering, said that the digital transformation system in the chosen sector (tourism) is a starting point.
He said that after the study, there will be further discussions on the next steps of the project.
Data from the tourist passport app could hopefully be integrated into the planning of Davao City’s High Priority Bus System, which is currently being built.
The project proponents are hopeful that Davao City’s tourists will be using the app, considering that Davao City is among the country’s popular tourist destinations and the tourism industry is one of the city’s high-growth sectors.
Based on City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) figures, Davao City recorded 1,045,854 tourist arrivals in the first half of 2026, this is an 11% increase from the same period last year and the highest recorded since the pandemic.
The recently successful Kadayawan Festival also attracted more tourist crowds to the city. The festival recorded 120,000 people out in the streets during the Indak-Indak and Pamulak sa Kadayawan.
According to City Tourism Operations Office OIC Willenito Tormis, they are preparing a broader tourism campaign in 2027, with plans to strengthen sports, arts, culture, halal, and community-based tourism while building on this year’s Kadayawan Festival momentum.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Rudolph Alama
Dieser Artikel ist neu veröffentlicht von / This article is republished from: Philippine Information Agency, 31.08.2026
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