Baguio opens travel to rest of Luzon provinces

BAGUIO CITY, Benguet, Philippines — The city’s travel corridor with the Ilocos region has been expanded to include the rest of Luzon, according to Mayor Benjamin Magalong, who met on Saturday with Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat and doctors of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases here.

But only 200 tourists from the Luzon provinces will be allowed to visit the city on any given day, beginning Oct. 23.

“We cannot remain risk averse for so long,” Magalong said to explain why Baguio had eased some restrictions on movement to allow businesses, including tourism-oriented establishments, to gradually bounce back.

The city’s tourism industry had absorbed up to P1.6 billion in lost revenues in the last seven months since the scrapping of the annual Baguio Flower Festival in February.

The city government was also expecting a P100-million drop in taxes when businesses were shuttered during the Luzon lockdown after the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic broke out in the country in March. Many local businessmen have been assessing whether they can resume full operations by December, the start of Baguio’s peak tourist season.

Less restrictive

Last week, Magalong said the city government had been studying less restrictive guidelines for tourists participating in the “Ridge and Reef” travel program, which involves Baguio and the provinces of Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte. Under the program, residents can visit beaches and other popular destinations in the city and the Ilocos region provinces to jump-start tourism in their areas.

Since Oct. 1, only a handful out of 200 tourists who applied for strictly regulated leisure travel had visited the city. Part of the problem may be the requirement for visitors to sign up for tour packages that will dictate their movement in the city.

—Vincent Cabreza