Baguio City is bracing for more losses in tourism revenues amid stricter community quarantine restrictions to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country’s summer capital logged an estimated P7 billion economic loss last year due to the virus outbreak, of which almost a third were in tourism receipts.
On Tuesday, tourism activities were again disallowed.
Hotel bookings, which traditionally peak in time for Holy Week, are being cancelled, according to Manor Hotel general manager Ramon Cabrera.
Under the NCR Plus bubble, potential tourists from Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are also barred from leaving for provinces outside the bubble.
Last week, Jovy Ganongan, officer-in-charge of the Department of Tourism-Cordillera Administrative Region, said based on conservative estimates, the city lost P7.55 billion in economic revenues in 2020.
“P2 million is equated in the expenses of tourists under a conservative estimate of P2,500 per day while staying in Baguio for one and a half day,” Gonongan said.
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority-CAR, the average expenditure of a foreign tourist in the Cordillera region in 2019, including balikbayans, is around P7,392, while domestic tourists or overnight visitors spend P3,82. Same day visitors on the average spend around P2,800.
Baguio remains the top tourism hub in the region, accounting for 75.3 percent of the region’s tourist arrival.
