Tuesday, August 27, 2013

DOT Reports Increase in Tourism Arrivals in Baguio, Bares Other Tourism Plans and Events

BY: CARLITO C. DAR

BAGUIO CITY, Aug. 27 (PIA) - - This summer capital remains to be the top tourist drawer  in  the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and among the top 14 favorite destinations for both local and foreign tourists in the country. 

Department of Tourism – Cordillera (DOT-CAR) Regional Director Purificacion Molintas, in a kapihan media forum Friday, reported an increasing trend of tourist arrivals in the City wherein during first quarter of this year.  DOT statistics shows that around 1.03 million tourists, both local and foreign, visited Baguio from January to March this year compared to the 648,364 Baguio visitors recorded in the first quarter of 2012.

Molintas said  major contributor  to  Baguio visitors  is  the  MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions)  sector  that  opted  to  hold  activities here  to also  enjoy  the cold Baguio weather.

With the onset of the rainy season, Molintas said  MICE events remain the top drawer  while weddings are also lining up from July up to December.

This September, the Hotel and Restaurants Associations of Baguio (HRAB) in partnership with the city government will once again hold the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism (HRT) weekend   wherein from September 5 to 7, culinary students and professionals from Northern Luzon and some parts of country will converge for a culinary showdown and exposition.

Now on its 10th year, the HRT weekend will also showcase sumptuous cakes that will be molded in the  form of Baguio’s historical sites and famous infrastructures such as The Mansion, Baguio Cathedral, Baguio Country Club, City Hall, the Philippine Military Academy Melchor Hall and the city’s Post Office.

For other tourism promotions and events, Molintas disclosed  that other scheduled activities are the Tourism Forum cum Road Show entitled “Connecting BLISTT (Baguio City, La Tirinidad, Itogon, Sablan, Tuba and Tublay), Metro Baguio to Clark the International Gateway” on August 30  and the “Byahe Info Seminar”, which DOT aims endorse to various colleges and universities for tourism students to participate.

She also affirmed the participation of CAR in the Philippine Tourism Week on Sept. 1 to 8  at the SMX Convention Center at the Mall of Asia and the 24th Philippine Travel Mart on Sept. 6 to 8, also  in Manila.


Meantime, to further improve the monitoring or recording of tourists arrivals in Baguio and the rest of Cordillera,  DOT-CAR during the same forum presented a methodology on tourism data gathering that they are now pushing for the different local government units to adopt. (JDP/CCD and Julianne Detran-PIA Intern)  

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