Baguio, hotel execs nix tourism data gathering

By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY– The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio (HRAB) and the Baguio Tourism Council (BTC) questioned the methodology being used by the Department of Tourism (DOT) in the gathering of data on tourist arrivals considering that the figures being released by the agency is reportedly contrary to the real situation and experience of the tourism-related establishments in the Summer Capital.

        

Anthony de Leon, HRAB president and general manager of the Baguio Country Club (BCC), said the report that the city’s tourist arrivals for the first semester of this year dropped by 30 percent considering that there were only 300,000 tourists who actually arrived in the city is totally wrong because it failed to consider tourists who arrived in the city for the 18th staging of the Baguio flower festival, the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming and graduation, the Holy Week break and during the summer months.

           

“We are not aware of the reason behind the releasing of the report on tourist arrivals in the city which is questionable because it is in direct contrast to the real situation in the industry, ”de Leon stressed, citing that if the untrue report is geared towards discrediting the present administration of the city, the same will not work because Baguio has its natural pull of tourists which is not present in other tourist destinations in the country.

            

He pointed out the DOT must formulate a methodology that will encompass visitors flocking to the city who opt to stay in hotels, transient houses or even in their homes because some of the tourists have their own homes in the different parts of the city.

            

According to him, data gathering must not only be confined to the establishments accredited by the DOT but also the numerous transient houses that are not actually registered as well as the census of visitors who have existing homes in the different barangays.

            

While it is true that there are also establishments that do not report actual occupancy, de Leon, who is also the BTC chairman, said efforts are being done to police their own ranks but there are some establishment owners who refuse to submit true reports primarily because of fear of the imposition of taxes by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

            

Considering that June to September are lean months for the tourism industry in the city, he claimed the private sector is doing its best to ensure that the city will sustain its identity as an all-weather destination for local hoteliers to make business although they are taking advantage of the lean season to allow their employees to undergo trainings that will contribute in advancing their respective career in the industry.

            

HRAB has been a partner of the city government in the implementation of various crowd drawing events that sustain the influx of foreign and domestic tourists to the city.

            

De Leon strongly denounced the continuous smear campaign being done by individuals and groups who want to ruin the good standing of Baguio city in the worldwide tourism industry, saying that no amont of bad publicity could affect the gains in the local tourism industry because of the good working relationship among all sectors of the Baguio community in order to uplift its standing among the country’s top tourist destination.

           

Earlier, the Cordillera office of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA-CAR) reported that Baguio City is ranked sixth among the top ten tourist destinations in the country. --  Dexter A. See