Baguio expects P3B from flower fest
By Desiree Caluza
Northern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 01:45:00 01/29/2008
Filed Under: Festive Events (including Carnivals), Regional authorities
BAGUIO CITY – This mountain resort city plans to spend part of the P3-billion earnings it expects from this year’s Baguio Flower Festival to promote tourism and market organic vegetables.
Councilor Perlita Rondez, chair of the city council’s tourism committee, said the P3 billion would be earned in two days, at the peak of the month-long festival in February.
Panagbenga’s major attractions are the street dancing and float parade on Feb. 23-24.
Around 500,000 tourists are expected to come during the festival, according to tourism officials.
Gerry Beltran, vice president of the Baguio Hotels and Inns Association (BAHAI), said hotels and inns had always registered an 80-percent occupancy rate for the Panagbenga.
“We already have positive figures when it comes to bookings and most of those who have made reservations are asking about the activities of the coming flower festival,” he said.
Purificacion Molintas, DOT Cordillera director, said they want to make the festival more attractive to international and domestic tourists.
One way to entice them to attend the Panagbenga is to fetch them directly from the airport, she said.
“We will receive the foreign delegations at the airport 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We will also provide the same services to our visitors who will come from the Visayas and Mindanao,” she told a press forum on Wednesday.
Rondez said this year’s festival would be more organized and would feature city landscapes, organic vegetables, and arts and crafts.
She said 2008 is going to be a banner year for Burnham Park, one of the major attractions, since it will undergo rehabilitation.
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