CITY Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña said that the recently-concluded Panagbenga has fallen shy of its projections in terms of tourist population for the month of February, but is still overall “very successful,” lauding the conduct of activities that drew tourists in during the month.
“Our projection was 1.5 million. Definitely, we did not reach it. Our projection was that many would attend the float parade, the street parade. We did not reach it,” Dela Peña said.
According to Dela Peña, while the city has yet to finalize the figures for the tourist arrivals throughout the month for analysis, initial estimates indicate a crowd size of roughly 70,000 during the parades.
The return of Panagbenga after three years of pandemic is one of the city’s flagship initiatives to aid in the recovery of the heavily tourist-oriented economy of Baguio.
Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong is aiming for a “full economic recovery” to pre-pandemic and beyond figures within five years, with intentions to have a “bigger” Panagbenga in the coming years.
“Rest assured, however, that we in the city government are doing all we can in hopefully achieving the full recovery of our economy in less than five years,” de la Peña said.
