Benguet town scraps ‘Switzerland’ tag

BAGUIO City—The trend in Benguet tourism these days is rebranding to improve the market potential for foreign visitors, the Department of Tourism (DoT) said.

But for Kibungan town, changing a brand will correct a travesty.

The town used to market itself online and in brochures as the Philippines’ “Switzerland” for its cold weather, until a European family went to the town several years ago carrying skis, said Purificacion Molintas, DoT Cordillera director.

“They came in full cold weather gear expecting snow,” she said.

The family was dismayed and complained to the tourism office, Molintas said.

But Councilor Lovio Nabe said Kibungan would now be known as the “Home to the Rocky Wall of Beauties,” a reference to the town’s rock walls and cliffs that could attract professional rock climbers and outdoor enthusiasts.

It took a long process to convince residents and officials of the town to drop their Switzerland tag through a resolution that authorizes a replacement brand in 2010, Kibungan officials said.

“There were some resistance [from residents and officials who believe the tag was effective],” Molintas said.

She said the community drew up to describe Kibungan’s occasional 6 to 8 degrees Celsius temperature during the Christmas season. Upland towns like Kibungan, Bokod and Atok describe their temperature drops to be 2 to 3 degrees Celsius lower when Baguio City’s temperature hits between 9 and 10 degrees Celsius.

“Whole localities [count as a single] tourism product,” Molintas said, to explain why a community would fight hard to keep strategies that have worked well for tourism.

The new brand also helps reintroduce Benguet’s forest communities to adventure seekers.

In 2010, Benguet drew 228,312 foreign and domestic tourists, ranking second to Baguio City, which hosted 738,386 foreign and local visitors.

Other Benguet towns have started marketing new brands, Molintas said.

Although Bokod town has been known as the gateway to Mt. Pulag, Luzon’s second-highest peak, Mayor Mauricio Mackay has been marketing an October 19 to 21 trek to the town’s Mt. Purgatory.

Mackay said Mt. Purgatory was named by a former employee of the defunct lumber company, Benguet Consolidated Inc., to describe the thick and dark forests there.

“I have pushed this to help raise awareness for our forests and so we can raise money to finance its protection,” he said.

Kapangan town is also marketing its annual “Christmas in Kapangan,” which highlights its “Santa Claus mountain,” where an image of the bearded face of the Christmas icon can be recognized from a mountainside.—Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon