Philippine Tourism Down By 50% During Holy Week Due To High Fuel Costs

2026-04-02 02:29:20

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid US-Israel-Iran war for the latest regional developments.]

Tourists in Baguio, dubbed as the 'Summer Capital of the Philippines ', had been halved by skyrocketing fuel prices brought about by the war in the Middle East. Baguio City mayor Benjamin Magalong said there are 50 per cent fewer tourists in what used to be the busiest time of the year in the mountaintop city.

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The chief executive said that rising petrol and diesel prices have deterred many tourists from motoring to Baguio while hotels have reported cancelled bookings.

During peak tourism seasons, such as Holy Week and the Panagbenga Flower Festival in December, as many a 1.5 million overnight tourists go to Baguio, famous for its cool weather and other attractions.

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Baguio residents, however, are breathing a sigh of relief. There are now less traffic gridlocks in Baguio's streets and there is less pressure on the city's water supply that often becomes insufficient when tourists come in droves.

Baguio is not just tourism

Book author and journalist Frank Cimatu said that the unintended benefits of reduced volume of visitors should be an impetus for the local government to contemplate its“over-dependence” on tourism.

“It's about time that the city contemplates the situation. We are so dependent on tourism that it seems the city revolves around tourism,” Cimatu told Khaleej Times.

Cimatu said that residents like him are often reminded to sacrifice their weekends to tourists, Holy Weeks and other peak tourism seasons feel like penance already.

The ancestral domain of the Indigenous Ibaloi people of the Cordillera region of the Philippines, Baguio became a resort town for the American colonial forces. They built their country club, gold course, and the Philippine Military Academy amid the area's beautiful scenery and cool climate.

Throughout decades, it became a haven for artists, writers, musicians and it hosts a number of universities, drawn by Baguio's quiet environment compared to Metro Manila.

The city's charms are being eroded by“over-tourism,” according to Cimatu, worsened by the opening of superhighways that made it faster to travel to the 1,500-meter plateau.

Faraway war affects ordinary residents

Cimatu's fellow journalist Kimberly Quitasol agrees that less tourists may be better for their beloved city.

“It is good that there are no traffic gridlocks and it is less crowded at the city center,” she said.

Quitasol hastened to add that she feels bad for the small businesses affected by reduced tourist arrivals.“There is now less income for the vegetable vendors, transient house operations, souvenir sellers at our tourist spots,” she said.

“I do not care about the big hotels and businesses,” she said,“but I wish the war to stop as our drivers are no longer earning anything. Diesel prices have tripled here,” she concluded.