North Luzon Travel Fair set, Proposed guidelines to tourists bared

In efforts to revive the heavily impacted economy of the city through the proposed tourism corridor between Baguio City and provinces in Region I, the City has set a date for the North Luzon Travel Fair and released some of the proposed guidelines for the gradual opening of Baguio for Region I tourists and vice versa.

North Luzon Travel Fair

In a meeting of the Baguio Tourism Council last September 4, Supervising City Tourism Operations Officer Engr. Aloysius Mapalo stated that stakeholders of the proposed Baguio-Region I Tourism Corridor has agreed on September 21, 2020 as the date for the North Luzon Travel Fair, wherein Baguio residents who want to visit the different tourist destinations in Region I can start looking into tour packages for the “Ridge to Reef Baguio-Ilocos Tours“. On said date, Ilocos provinces will also announce when they will be opening their borders for Baguio residents.

The Baguio Visitors Information and Travel Assistance (VISITA) online platform, which will be used to track the registration, acceptance, and monitoring of tourists coming from the local government units included in the bubble will also be launched on the same date.

Baguio-Region I Tourism Bubble

The Baguio-Region I Tourism Bubble or Corridor is an exploratory concept that seeks to help promote domestic tourism in low-risk areas and help revive the heavily impacted economy of different regions due to the imposed community quarantine measures placed to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus disease. On September 1, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the local chief executives of Baguio City, and Region I provinces- Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, and La Union- to further explore the measures that can be done to establish the safe and gradual opening of tourist spots for the people from the involved LGUs. The signing of the MOU was witnessed by the City’s Guest of Honor for the Baguio Day program, Department of Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

Mapalo claimed that the following provinces will be opening certain parts of their locality to visitors from the bubble:

• Pangasinan will be opening Manaoag and Bolinao;
• La Union will be offering Bauang;
• Ilocos Sur will be opening up Vigan City;
• Ilocos Norte will be made available for visitors Laoag City, Paoay, and Pagudpud for interested visitors.

As for which parts of Baguio City will be opened for tourism has not yet been disclosed.

Proposed Guidelines for Tourism Opening

While the guidelines are still yet to be finalized by the stakeholders involved, Mapalo has bared that among these guidelines will be the following:

• Prospective tourists should have their visits handled by duly accredited travel agencies and tour operators.
• Visitors must undergo either anti-gen or Reverse Transcription Polymerase (RT-PCR) tests from their points of origin that will be valid for 5 days. Additional days of stay in the tourist destinations will require them to undergo similar tests in the places where they were stalled
• There must be pre-bookings in hotels and other accommodation establishments aside from online registration.

According to the City Tourism officer, the guidelines that will be implemented for the tourism bubble will be published as soon as it is finalized.

SOURCE: PIO-Baguio