BAGUIO CITY February 11 – Get a handy guide to Baguio City as the Philippine summer capital celebrates the Panagbenga Flower Festival 2016.
Baguio Guide, a travel app developed by Cebu-based startup InnoPub Media in partnership with Smart Communications (Smart), provides users with useful information and practical tips related to the crowd-drawing festival. It can be downloaded for free on Android mobile devices from the Google Play Store.
“With the Baguio Guide app containing helpful information about the city, travelers can have a more meaningful Panagbenga experience,” said Smart Public Affairs Group Head Ramon Isberto. “This app complements all other travel apps such as the updated versions of the Sinulog and Iloilo Guides, which we released in support of the Sinulog and Dinagyang festivals,” added Isberto.
The app features a list of festival events and highlights for February 1 up to March 6, which includes the Panagbenga closing ceremonies highlighted by a grand fireworks display. The Baguio Guide also contains answers to typical travel questions like where to stay, what to eat, and how to get around the city during the much-anticipated Panagbenga 2016 and is especially useful for first-timers to Baguio. Many of Baguio’s tourist destinations are also GPS-tagged with “check location” links that provide routes and directions via the GPS guide system of the users’ devices.
Within the app are sections that feature helpful information, such as must-try food, must-visit places, and must-do activities in Baguio, as well as a list of Department of Tourism-accredited tour guides and tour operators.
It also has a full directory of important contact numbers – from hospitals and emergency units to police stations – with a “tap to call” feature that allows app users to just click on the number to make the call.
The Baguio Guide is part of the nationwide Digital Tourism program of Smart and InnoPub Media, a campaign that seeks to harness mobile technology in the delivery of tourism, cultural, and historical information. The program was given an Anvil Award of Merit in 2014.
By Dexter A. See
