BAGUIO CITY — Panagbenga festival organizer — Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. (BFFFI)—said it is expecting higher tourist arrivals in Baguio City with the flower festival, now on its 29th year, just around the corner.
Panagbenga Media Committee Chairman Andrew Pinero said that since the staging of the 74th January Fil-Am Invitational Golf Tournament in late November up to the middle of December last year, the Baguio Country Club (BCC) and other hotels in the city reached a 90-95% occupancy rate.
This, he said, is already considered high in the hotel industry as there were only a few rooms that were vacant due to sudden cancellations from guests for various reasons.
He added that at the start of the new year, the occupancy rate of the hotels and other accommodation establishments in the city was pegged at around 80-90%, which is still quite high based on industry standards.
The Panagbenga Media Committee chair claimed that with the activities for the 29th edition of the flower festival rolled out, tourists have already started making reservations with accommodation establishments for their visit to the city during the major highlights of the flower festival.
This includes the grand street dancing competition (Feb. 22), the grand floral parade (Feb. 23) and the week-long Session Road in Bloom (Feb. 24 to March 2).
The flower festival formally begins on Feb. 1 with an opening parade as a sneak-peak of the month-long celebration. — Artemis A. Dumlao
