The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Department of Tourism (DOT) is starting restoration of Baguio City, starting with the historic Burnham Park, budgeted at P480 million.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat announced the P480-million budget through its investment arm Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Rehabilitation will include construction of view deck and boat dock, installation of terrace planters, view deck renovation and plant box improvement in the Burnham Lake.
Other rehab work include the landscaping, lighting and electrical works, gazebo and restroom construction, and installation of play equipment for the children’s playground.
Burnham Park closure
Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong presented the city’s four major areas that needs rehabilitation—environment, traffic and transport, water supply, tourist destination and geohazard areas or areas occupied by informal settlers.
Unlike Boracay, which faced closure for six months, Romulo Puyat clarified that Baguio City will not be closed as the city is the gateway to the Cordilleras.
Burnham Park’s restoration will be done in parts, while other areas will still be opened to the public. The rehab will start this May, and the expected completion of the restoration might take a year and a half.
Destinations entirely closed during their restoration include Mines View Park and Bayan Park. Also included in the pipeline for rehab are the Arboretum, Botanical Garden, Tree Park and Wright Park.
Given Baguio City’s overpopulation and overtourism, the city’s sewage treatment plant and waste system will also be a priority. Romulo Puyat, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Environment Assistant Secretary Jesus Enrico Salazar, and Magalong inspected Baguio City’s sewage treatment plant where plans of its rehabilitation and construction of additional plants, and upgrading of the sewer line system are in the offing. The Irisan dump site is also eyed to be turned into an eco-park.
The local chief executive said that major changes will be in the pipeline, including the plan of building a smart city where there is an elevated system for security and safety, traffic management, smart lighting, no-contact apprehensions and environment monitoring are being executed.
Overtourism
Sec. Romulo Puyat stressed the leading concern of overtourism in the City of Pines. “Too much tourists come to the city contributing greatly jammed roads; obstructed views; locals leaving to make way for holiday and summer rentals; and the fragile environment is slowly deteriorating.”
Currently, Baguio City has an estimated 370,000 population, and nearly 800,000 tourist arrivals were recorded from the months of January to September 2019, alone. In 2018, it showed that there were 1,760,729 tourists’ arrivals in 2018.
This leads to a more alarming state for the tourist hub, linking it with big city problems, like traffic, overcrowding, water shortages and growing pollution. “But it is not too late,” she added. “We can stop overtourism with sustainable tourism.”
She said the issue on the city’s carrying capacity should be done by establishing the ideal number of visitors that can be accommodated without harming or affecting the environment. All these, while meeting the expectations of the visitors, and respecting the needs and preserving the culture of the locals.
She added that the agencies shall be applying the lessons they learned from their drive of preserving the different destinations in the country, such as El Nido and Coron in Palawan; Panglao in Bohol; Siargao in Surigao del Norte; and Manila Bay.