BAGUIO CITY – After suffering from a slump during the Christmas break, hundreds of vendors in the different sections of the Baguio City Public Market were able to double their supposed income during the New Year’s Day rush which is an indication there will be a bright future for the local economy this year.

While their operations were affected by the proliferation of ambulant vendors in the different parts of this mountain resort city, Victor Calimlim, president of the Baguio Market Plaza Vendors Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BAMAPCOM), said the sudden rush of local residents and tourists for their respective New Year celebrations resulted in an almost double income for all of the cooperative’s members.

According to Calimlim, another reason for their almost double income for the New Year’s break compared to the same period the other year was the influx of visitors to the city which was triggered by the traditional holiday break of President Arroyo and the members of the First Family in the city over the past five days.

Even during New Year’s Eve, thousands of people still flocked to the market to purchase various goods for their usual servings for the New Year celebrations that helped the vendors recover from the slump over the past several months.

After the onslaught of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng” last September and October, respectively, Calimlim admitted market vendors had a difficult time recovering from their daily losses since there was a slow influx of tourists coming from different parts of the country.

With their recent success as a result of the heavy influx of visitors and local residents for the New Year break, Calimlim believes the local economy in the area has already recovered from the slump it has suffered over the past few months and the succeeding months will mean better for them.

Most of the vendors who were displaced by an early morning fire on March 2, 2009 are members of Calimlim’s group who struggled after they were eased out of their burned stalls.