Baguio fears bearing brunt of hostage tragedy

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – Baguio City, the tourist capital of the Philippines, fears bearing the major brunt of the 11-hour hostage drama at the Quirino Grandstand last Monday where eight Hong Kong tourists were killed.

Baguio Tourism Council chairman Anthony de Leon said he and other tourism stakeholders are concerned about the impact of the hostage drama both on local and national tourism.

Last year, Baguio City was touted by the tourism department as the third top tourist destination in the country based on domestic and foreign tourist arrivals.

“We will have to work closely with the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Tourism Congress to counter the bad publicity and come up with a policy which will not jeopardize tourists in the future,” De Leon said.

He said the Tourism Congress expects other countries to follow Hong Kong’s example of giving negative marks to the Philippines as their travel destination.

The Tourism Congress urged the government to put in place crisis management mechanisms precisely “because we have not addressed this properly in the past to the detriment of our tourism stakeholders.”

The Tourism Congress is a 65-member private sector consultative body mandated by the Tourism Act of 2009 to assist the government in the development, implementation and coordination of Philippine tourism policy. 

The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio and the Baguio Convention and Visitors Bureau will continue to work on activities to improve the image of the city and in the process attract more local and foreign tourists.

DOT-Cordillera director Purificacion Molintas said while the agency sympathizes with the families of the slain Hong Kong tourists, it cannot be discounted that the hostage drama will greatly affect the north Luzon tourism cluster. 

The north Luzon cluster is composed of the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Molintas said they have experienced travel cancellations because of the tragedy. For one, Laoag-Hong Kong flights have been cancelled.

“In Laoag and Clark alone, we are expecting the cancellation of many flights because many of the tourists who are supposed to arrive are from Hong Kong,” Molintas said.

The Laoag International Airport accommodates more than a thousand tourists monthly from Hong Kong.