BAGUIO CITY – This mountain resort
city plans to spend part of the P3-billion earnings it expects
from this year’s Baguio Flower Festival to promote
tourism and market organic vegetables.
Councilor Perlita Rondez, chair of the city council’s
tourism committee, said the P3 billion would be earned in
two days, at the peak of the month-long festival in February.
Panagbenga’s major attractions are the street dancing
and float parade on Feb. 23-24.
Around 500,000 tourists are expected to come during the
festival, according to tourism officials.
Gerry Beltran, vice president of the Baguio Hotels and Inns
Association (BAHAI), said hotels and inns had always registered
an 80-percent occupancy rate for the Panagbenga.
We already have positive figures when it comes to bookings
and most of those who have made reservations are asking
about the activities of the coming flower festival,”
he said.
Purificacion Molintas, DOT Cordillera director, said they
want to make the festival more attractive to international
and domestic tourists.
One way to entice them to attend the Panagbenga is to fetch
them directly from the airport, she said.
“We will receive the foreign delegations at the airport
24 hours a day, seven days a week. We will also provide
the same services to our visitors who will come from the
Visayas and Mindanao,” she told a press forum on Wednesday.
Rondez said this year’s festival would be more organized
and would feature city landscapes, organic vegetables, and
arts and crafts.
She said 2008 is going to be a banner year for Burnham Park,
one of the major attractions, since it will undergo rehabilitation.
|
Select a Florist
