The city tourism office on Monday expressed confidence that tourist arrivals will bounce back in the second quarter as gasoline prices continue to drop.

“We have seen our small groups of tourists returning, but we still need to get the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) clients. Most of them canceled their schedules to hold their events in Baguio when the cost-cutting order and fuel-saving measures were issued,” City tourism officer Aloysius Mapalo said in an interview.

Mapalo said he hopes the MICE organizers will reconsider their earlier decisions to cancel their schedules at the height of oil price hikes amid the Middle East crisis.

“We remain confident that we will recover from the effect of the fuel price increase to the tourism industry because we have proven that we are among the top destinations for major events that bring lots of participants,” Mapalo said.

The city government earlier said Baguio’s tourist arrivals dropped by 50 percent to 60 percent, especially during the Holy Week.

“By the last stretch of April, we saw tourists starting to arrive until May. During the long weekends due to the holidays showed a good tourist arrival and we are happy with that,” he said.

He said various bus companies have reported restoring their trip schedules with many tourists requiring seat to travel to and from Baguio.

“During the height of the fuel crisis, they had to trim down their trips by as much as 40 percent but now, they said they are back to their scheduled,” the official said.

Mapalo said the city continues to promote the country’s Summer Capital under its official tourism and wellness campaign “Breath Baguio”.

“We are lucky that we can enjoy the natural weather that we have and this is among the factors tourists look forward to in their visits to the city,” he said. (PNA)