Baguio City is among the country’s top tourist destinations that had to close and halt operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The favorite go-to spot of the many will re-brand itself as a vacation safe spot from the virus and might open the tourism industry in September, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said Tuesday.

Read more: All I Want Is a Baguio Trip Right Now To Free My Mind From Worries

“The mountain city will re-open its tourism if it avoids the second wave of COVID-19 cases and if "things normalize" in neighboring Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Region 4,” Magalong said in an interview with ANC.

Baguio City is visited by about 500,000 tourists during the peak season like the Panagbenga festival; this number will be reduced once the city settled its opening.

The city will accept only a tenth of this number when it re-opens and might gradually accept more holidaymakers once local authorities "learn the dynamics," said Magalong. "When we open up, it's just like applying for a visa. That's what we're doing right now with returning Baguio residents, you have to apply for a 'visa', get a schedule," He added..

Magalong said that Baguio will reopen as a "safe vacation spot" and tourists will be required to pass through a checkpoint and undergo two levels of medical triage.

Read: Baguio City, tinawag na ‘Best Practice’ ang mga Safety Measures kontra COVID-19

In response to the city’s loss of 1.4 billion in revenues due to the effects of the virus on the sector of tourism, the local government is planning tourism programs by the end of the year and a P100-million stimulus package for micro-enterprises and small businesses for the benefit of Baguio's economy.

“The city government will also "expose them (residents) to other types of businesses that will thrive during the pandemic," said Magalong. “These include strawberry and flower farming, textile manufacturing, weaving, and handicraft,” he added.

Baguio City has a total of 43 COVID-19 patients—only seven of which are active cases—as of writing, according to numbers by the Department of Health.

We’re all excited to see you Baguio!