Baguio braces for more tourists in February

BEYOND FLOWERS Panagbenga or the Baguio Flower Festival not only highlights the cutflower industry of Benguet province but showcases the culture and tradition of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera. The monthlong festival is the biggest tourist drawer of Baguio City. —EV ESPIRITU

BAGUIO CITY—The city is expecting an abnormally high influx of visitors in February when it hosts the Cordillera sports meet in between the annual alumni homecoming of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and the crowd-drawer Panagbenga (Baguio Flower Festival).

More than 7,000 elementary and high school delegates are participating in the weeklong Cordillera Administrative Region Athletic Association meet starting Feb. 16. The city government assumed the hosting chores for the sports event after the original host backed out.

To accommodate students who will be housed in 11 public schools, the police have reworked their security and traffic plans for February, according to Police Col. Allen Rae Co, Baguio police director.

More than 1,000 PMA alumni and their families are expected to gather at Fort del Pilar for the three-day homecoming activities starting Feb. 13.Flower fest

While figures vary on the number of visitors for the 25th staging of the monthlong Panagbenga, thousands are expected to watch its street dancing parade on Feb. 29 and floral float parade on March 1, the festival’s highlights.

Last year, the city recorded 1.7 million visitors, and expected more tourists with the opening of access roads to Baguio, particularly the Asin-Nangalisan-San Pascual Road connecting Benguet and La Union provinces and the segment of the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway in Sison town, Pangasinan province.

According to the Department of Tourism, Baguio’s tourist arrivals have increased gradually—from 932,000 in 2014, 1.1 million in 2015, 1.29 million in 2016 to 1.5 million in 2017. —VINCENT CABREZA INQ