Angelo “Sonny” Lopez Jr., CDC Public Relations Department (PRD) manager, said “the hot air balloon festival puts Clark in the province of Pampanga in the map of international recognition and awareness.”
Lopez also said, “together with our hosting of international events like the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Conference), we are able to show and prove our capability and finesse in handling affairs along the international dimensions of substance, safety and fun.”
Dubbed: “A Weekend Of Everything That Flies,” the recent hot air balloon festival saw some 15 countries joining the
event while the APEC Senior Officers’ Meeting 1 held from January 26 to February 7 drew some 1,800 participants from 22 APEC-member countries.
“We allow people of multiple origins and expectations to savor and enjoy our hospitality and facilities of sights, sounds and leisure,” Lopez said.
“We have given people another unique reason to smile and at the same time have the business establishments and
enterprising individuals from within and also outside the zone, to have revenue enticing opportunities,” he explained.
“We give people the reason to make a return visit to Clark and Pampanga. Certainly, the hot air balloon has motivating, inspiring and unifying effects,” he added.
According to Roy Del Rosario, manager of nearby Oasis Hotel, the annual event has benefitted the entire Angeles City and the surrounding area making it the city and the province’s signature event.
He said the Oasis Hotel has about 40 to 45 percent increase during the hot air balloon festival. “What’s important is beginning January, we can already feel the effects as customers and hotel guests are all looking forward to the event,” he said.
The 2015 Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival (PIHABF) has become the biggest event of the year to showcase Clark, Angeles and the province of Pampanga, Del Rosario said.
“It’s like our own version of Cebu’s Sinulog, Iloilo’s Ati-atihan and Quezon’s Pahiyas,” he added.
Del Rosario said he is especially grateful for it because the event has always played a crucial role in their business.
“I have strongly supported the hot air balloon festival for the past 18 years or so and did this simply because I believed in its potential in helping our city’s economy grow,” he said.
Del Rosario said this this also true for the “Tigtigan, Terakan Keng Dalan (Music and Street Dancing) in Angeles City because as early as September they enjoy a full occupancy rate.
“I hope we have mid-year events so that we can sustain the high occupancy rate almost every quarter that will make for a vibrant business,” he added.
