ATOK, Benguet – Tourism continues to flourish in this upland town following the emergence of world-class agritourism destinations coupled with the natural pull of its cool climate that helped the local government generate more than P8.2 million from the collection of environmental fees last year.
Mayor Franklin Smith admitted that there is no doubt that tourism compliments the lucrative agriculture industry as the town’s major economic drivers of the municipality because of the presence of pristine agri-tourism destinations that serve as the main attractions ably supported by the prevailing cool weather condition throughout the year.
From the more or less P120,000 tourist arrivals in the municipality that generated over P6 million in collected environmental fee in 2023, Smith reported that the tourist arrivals in the municipality last year drastically increased to more than P164,000 that paved the way for the collection of over P8.2 million in environmental fee from the visitors.
“We have to still do a lot of work to sustain the growth of our local tourism industry, especially in terms of providing convenience to our visitors, such as adequate parking spaces, clean toilets and improved quality of our souvenir items. We have to do it on a gradual manner so that we will not be overwhelmed once there will be influx of visitors in the coming months,” Mayor Smith stressed.
Atok is one of the highly elevated municipalities in Benguet where the temperature usually drops to nearly zero degrees Celsius anytime during January to March that entices visitors from the lowlands to flock to the locality and enjoy its cool and romantic weat6her.
The local chief executive claimed that the local government continues to collaborate with the tourism industry stakeholders to provide the necessary solutions to the various concerns being experienced by tourists visiting the different destinations in the municipality to sustain the increasing tourist arrivals beneficial in uplifting the growth of the economy.
Mayor Smith recognized the significant contributions of tourism to the economic activities and sources of livelihood of the people that is why the local government is also investing to provide for some of the needs of tourists such s available parking spaces within the vicinity of the tourist spots in coordination with tourism industry stakeholders and in aggressively promoting the municipality as a must see place for foreign and domestic visitors.
According to him, Atok is strategically located along the stretch of the Baguio-Bontoc-Banaue road, popularly known as the Halsema highway, that is why tourists wanting to visit major destinations in the central Cordillera such as Sagada, Mountain Province and Banaue, Ifugao could drop by the municipality and enjoy the scenic and pristine destinations before proceeding to their desired destinations.
Among the frequented destinations in the municipality are the Northern Blossoms flower farm, Sakura Park, Mount Polis and the second highest point of the Philippine highway system right along the stretch of the Halsema highway.
He added that there are also emerging agri-tourism destinations in some of the barangays which will be aggressively promoted by the local government once ready for visitation. By Dexter A. See