Fewer tourists recorded in Baguio this Holy Week
Published Apr 2, 2026 04:00 pm
PALM Sunday in Baguio City. (Baguio City PIO FB)
BAGUIO CITY – Fewer tourists were recorded in this city and neighboring areas this Holy Week.
Mayor Benjamin Magalong admitted a decline in tourists after the Panagbenga Festival which was followed by the oil crisis caused by the war in the Middle East.
“Our tourist arrivals dropped by 40 to 50 percent during the successive increases in gasoline prices and maybe this Holy Week our tourists might increase by 60 percent, but after this, our tourism will definitely drop again,” Magalong said.
Magalong said he has met bus companies that reduced their trips by 50 percent and the hotel and transients association which reported low bookings for the Holy Week.
Peter Ng, owner of a large hotel here, said that bookings have dropped by 40 percent since the oil crisis began until this Holy Week.
“This crisis has had a huge impact, not just me, all businesses, big or small, are really feeling the economic downturn. Right now, I have reduced the number of workers, or rather, they are alternates,” Ng said.
Andrew Pinero, spokesperson for the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio, also said that bookings at establishments have dropped by about 40 to 50 percent since early March.
He said that tourist arrivals and hotel bookings increase during the Holy Week and summer vacation, but this year the demand was very low.
Occupancy rates that usually reach 80 to 90 percent during summer dropped to about 40 percent, reflecting the stress on the local tourism industry, he said.
Pinero said that many hotels and restaurants are offering promos and discounts to attract tourists.
In the biking area at Burnham Park, where the rental fee for a bicycle was P100 per hour, it is now only P50 or P100 for two bicycles to attract the few visitors.
In the neighboring town of La Trinidad, Benguet, where the Strawberry Farm is a tourist hotspot, the number of visitors has dwindled.
“Before, during this Holy Week, my farm was full of tourists picking strawberries, it was fun to see so many of them, but now it is sad that there are almost no visitors,” stated Marife Agad, farm owner.