NAGA CITY – Hotels in this city are now fully booked as millions of devotees from all over the world are expected to join in the 300th celebration of the devotion to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia, a local tourism officer said Saturday.
All rooms of hotels in the city, including Legazpi City in Albay, are already fully booked, tourism officer Boy Aguilar said.
“I am not exaggerating,” he said. “Our hotels here cannot accommodate any more visitors so we need to book them in hotels outside the city.”
He said the number of visitors could reach 3 million as most members of Peñafrancia associations worldwide confirmed attendance.
Father Andrew Recepcion, executive secretary of Tercentenary Commission, said at least 2 million devotees were in Naga for the 299th Peñafrancia last year.
Recepcion said it was the first time hotels outside Naga were fully booked as well.
Alec Santos, executive secretary of Naga City Mayor John Bongat, said there are 30-35 hotels in the city with a combined 1,000 rooms.
Aguilar said the surge of pilgrims was expected to start on September 10, during the Traslacion, which is the traditional practice of transferring the image of Mother Mary from Basilica Minore to Naga Metropolitan Cathedral.
He said the flood of pilgrims was expected because it is the 300th year of the Peñafrancia.
He said even seminaries were fully occupied as top Catholic Church leaders, including Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, were expected to be in attendance.
Police are preparing for the event with more policemen arriving for crowd control and crime prevention duties.
The fluvial procession will be held on September 18.
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