CITY’S TOURISM ARRIVALS NOT MUCH AFFECTED BY DIARRHEA OUTBREAK–MAYOR

BAGUIO CITY – The acute gastroenteritis outbreak has not significantly affected the city’s tourism industry based on the number of visitors who continue to troop to the Summer Capital on the weekends.

This was announced by Mayor Benjamin Magalong during a press forum, on Jan. 14, at City Hall, where he disclosed that more tourists are expected in time for this year’s much-awaited Baguio Flower Festival (Panagbenga) that is scheduled to commence on Feb. 1.

While the Mayor admitted that some visitors canceled their travel to the city due to the outbreak, he insisted that the number of cancellations was not ‘significant’.

In a separate interview, city tourism officer Engr. Aloysius Mapalo bolstered Magalong’s assertion saying that “there were some concerns but did not really affect (tourist) arrivals. There might have been cancellations but not a significant number.”

The Mayor also revealed that the city’s largest mall reported a 20-percent decline in food sales due to the outbreak, in a period when it expected a 10-percent hike in profits.

To counter this, he pointed out that the city government has been coming up with a series of social media posts and press releases that “things are getting back to normal” in the City of Pines.

Before the city government can declare that the outbreak is finally over, the Mayor said he would rely on the advice of health experts “who would need to identify the cause and circumstance of the gastroenteritis surge.”

Joining the press forum were councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda who chairs the city council’s committee on health, city health officer Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes, city epidemiology surveillance unit chief Dr. Donabel Panes, Dr. Ian Christian Gonzales of the Department of Health- Epidemiology Bureau, and Engr. Fernando Peria of the Baguio Water District.- Gaby B. Keith