TOURIST arrivals in Baguio City, dubbed as the summer capital of the Philippines, continue to inch closer to figures before the COVID-19 pandemic struck two years ago.
“As of today, based on our estimates, we’re hitting about 85 percent of our pre-pandemic level,” Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong said yesterday during the Laging Handa public briefing.
Magalong did not give figures on the current daily tourist arrivals in the city but said it’s not hard to convince tourists to go Baguio City.
Earlier reports quoted city officials as saying the average daily tourist arrivals in the city before the pandemic was 6,000.
Magalong said many tourists visited the city last August and this month.
“These are lean months because of the wet season but surprisingly tourist arrivals in August and September remain high,” he said.
Magalong said there has been no significant difference in tourist arrivals in Baguio City since President Marcos Jr. issued about two weeks ago an executive order making optional the wearing of face masks outdoors.
He said people in Baguio City continue to wear face masks, adding they are either cautious against COVID-19 or already used to wearing face masks.
Asked whether COVID-19 cases in the city increased since the policy on wearing face masks was eased, Magalong said: “As of now, we cannot yet determine since it’s only two weeks ago when it (policy on face mask) was changed, when the new system was applied.
“But with the latest development in Manila, where (COVID-19 cases) is reportedly increasing, then we are expecting there will be a slight surge (in the city) in the next two weeks,” he said.
