Baguio Chinese bizmen positive despite crisis

BAGUIO CITY – The positive outlook of the Filipino-Chinese community in this mountain resort city despite effects of the global financial crisis to the country’s economy is keeping business robust.

Peter Ng, a well-known local hotel owner, said the crisis should not be the end of the world but should serve as challenge for individuals to strive harder to succeed.

But Ng admitted the effects of the economic meltdown will be felt soon, especially in the second half of this year, where the tourism industry, the primary source of income of the city, usually goes on a lull because of the rainy season.

The Fil-Chinese businessman said lull in any business is normal but life must go on in order to achieve one’s desired success in a chosen endeavor.

He said the economic crunch can be overcome the coming months provided every nation has positive outlook on investments so mitigating measures will be implemented.

Since tourism is the major source of income for Baguio, Ng said business activity was at its peak during the first and second quarters of this year since most people opted to patronize domestic tourism rather than traveling abroad due to the crisis, thus, it is still business s usual although there are some slight effects of the crisis.

According to Ng, local businessmen will try their best not to resort to retrenchment of workers as an offshoot of the crisis but instead revitalize the promotion of the city as a prime tourist destination to continue to attract more foreign and domestic tourists even during the rainy season to keep their businesses alive.

The Chinese community in the city has played a vital role in the city’s rapid economic boom through the years because of their huge investments in the establishment of various types of business which is being patronized by local residents and tourists alike.

If the global financial meltdown has resulted in the closure of companies involved in the export of products, Ng explained tourism is not greatly affected because people love to go places even for a short period of time thereby increasing business activity in their places of destination.