Baguio City to be showcased in Subic Advertising Congress

BAGUIO CITY - Officials of the Philippine Advertising Board informed local officials here that this mountain resort city will be the primary showcase of the 21st staging of the prestigious Advertising Congress from November 19 to 21, 2009 at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) complex in Zambales.

The assurance of the Ad Board came after numerous stakeholders in the city expressed their sentiments regarding the sudden transfer of the venue of the biennial event from the city to Subic due to safety reasons after this city was heavily devastated by typhoon "Pepeng."

Aside from allowing him to be the one to deliver the welcome address during the opening program, City Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. disclosed that members of the Ad Board will be coming to the city a week after the Ad Congress to donate to the typhoon victims in Baguio and Benguet the proceeds of the activity.

Moreover, the Ad Board had reportedly allocated 20 free spaces in their exhibit area where Baguio souvenir shops could sell the different products and memorabilia of the city in order to sustain the promotion of local products for the benefit of the booming local tourism industry.

At the same time, performers during the opening program of the Ad Congress will be those earlier commissioned by the city to do the performances, thus, the Ad Congress will be "a taste of Baguio and a feel of Subic."

Supposedly, this city is the host of this year's Ad Congress but organizers were forced to shift to Subic due to safety reasons since the roads leading to the city have not yet been properly rehabilitated thereby causing worries among the over 4,500 participants to the event.

Because of such consensus, local officials and tourism industry stakeholders are optimistic the promotion of this city during the Ad Congress in Subic could help improve the city's damaged image after it was depicted to be hazardous because of the closure of roads and the numerous landslides that occurred during the onslaught of "Pepeng."

Although the local tourism industry has suffered a great setback after the withdrawal of the staging of the Ad Congress in the city, the tourism industry believes the road to recovery and rehabilitation will be much easier if those in the advertising industry will help in projecting the city as a safe place to live in contrary to the misconceptions that most parts of the city are considered to be dangerous because of the series of landslides that occurred during the recent typhoons.