BY: CHARLES NIKKO LIMON
From Pasig City, the family of Tatay Artemio chose to vacation in Baguio City.
Despite the influx of tourists, they still managed to book a hotel for their stay.
“We were able to get a booking, it wasn’t that hard. It’s not that crowded yet, mostly weekends are busy here,” said Artemio Angeles, a tourist.
With the influx of tourists at local attractions, hotels in the city are also filling up fast.
In fact, 80-90% of them are fully booked until the New Year.
Andres Pinero, Spokesperson / Baguio Country Club – Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio, mentioned, “The occupancy rate is high, and even the transient houses are enjoying good business, so we hope this continues through 2025.”
According to the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Baguio, they expect a 95 to 100% occupancy rate from December 24 to January 2.
However, despite this, there seems to be a slight decrease in the number of tourists this year compared to 2023.
For Baguio Country Club, their occupancy rate is at 90%, and they expect to be 100% booked by Christmas.
But Le Monet Hotel is already fully booked until the New Year.
Dania Claire Ramon, Sales and Marketing Executive – Le Monet Hotel, stated, “We’ve been fully booked since December 1st. These are a combination of group bookings and individual bookings, which is good news for management.”
As a result, they are placing others on a waiting list, in case there are cancellations.
To ensure their guests enjoy Christmas and New Year, they offer various activities.
Despite this, heavy traffic remains a big challenge in the city.
“It’s a bit of a hassle, but we can walk,” said Jericho Reyes, a tourist.
According to the City Tourism Office, 1.31 million visited the city in 2023, and this number is expected to remain stable in 2024, especially this December.
