THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is optimistic about the recovery of the Cordillera region’s tourism industry with the revival of many festivals after the three-year pandemic. Also, the recent drop in inflation may cause what the department terms as “revenge travel,” said DOT Cordillera Regional Director Jovita Ganongan.
Since 2022, “revenge travel” or people traveling more frequently as a way to make up for lost time especially during the pandemic, has benefited the region and particularly Baguio City, based on the surge of tourists who saved up for trips scheduled at the end of the peak months or during rainy months, Ganongan said.
Ganongan said that even while inflation in the region and across the country spiked, to an average region-wide peak of 7.9 percent in Cordillera, travel and tourism continued in the region, and the DOT is expecting even more during the coming Holy Week break and after as inflation rates are starting to decline and stabilize.
“More people, perhaps, can travel now … not just inbound but also outbound,” Ganongan said.
The Imbayah or “rice wine” Festival is again being staged in Ifugao’s Banaue town beginning on April 15 and will precede the return of the Gotad ad Ifugao festival in June.
In Mountain Province, the community is bringing back the Lang-ay Festival in the capital town of Bontoc in the first week of April. Sagada town also staged its Etag Festival in January, while the Strawberry Festival in Benguet’s La Trinidad town concluded last week.
Smaller towns have also staged their own festivals, such as this week’s Gagayam Festival in Sabangan, Mountain Province.
