ATOK, Benguet – Officials of this town welcomed this year’s batch of the Lucky Summer Visitors (LSV) with fervent hope that this visit will not be their last.
On Black Saturday, the LSV, escorted by officers of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) visited this town’s most frequented tourist destination — the Northern Blossom Flower Farm.
Mayor Franklin Smith credits Northern Blossom owner and manager Lany Ganayan for the growing tourism industry in the municipality.
He said the flower garden, famous for its cabbage roses on manicured plots, has become part of the itinerary of many tourists who usually visit Baguio and the capital town of La Trinidad. As a result, other businesses such as accommodation establishments, souvenir stores, tour guiding, and opening other eco-parks have also increased as a result of the influx of tourists at the site, Smith said.
“We hope this will be the first of many. Atok used to be a stopover only. We are so blessed,” Smith told the LSVs and BCBC officers.
The mayor said visits to the Northern Blossom alone contributed substantially to the town’s revenue. The municipality collected PhP3 million in environmental fees in 2023 and PhP8.2M in 2024.
The number of accommodation establishments in Atok have also increased. In 2023 there were only 11 accommodation establishments. For 2024 and 2025, there are 30, the mayor said.
For the past two years, the number of business permits issued have steadily increased. The mayor said there were 602 permits issued in 2023, 720 in 2024, and 722 for the first quarter of 2025.
The mayor also proudly said that Atok is an emerging venue for conventions and benchmarking for small groups.
Smith said the municipal government is addressing potential concerns that might occur as a result of tourist influx.
The municipal market is being reconstructed into a five-storey structure where three floors will be devoted for parking. The mayor admitted that parking is currently a challenge especially at the surrounding areas of the flower garden. The building will also have a multipurpose hall for conventions.
Municipal Tourism Operations Officer Johanna Mae Lopez-Balao said there is more to see in Atok. She said the municipal government agreed to host this year’s batch of the LSV with the intent of promoting other destinations in the town.
“We take pride in our cool weather and warm hospitality,” Balao said, and thanked the BCBC for including Atok in the tour of the LSVs. She and the mayor hopes that when they host next year, the guests will stay overnight so they can be toured in the town’s other tourist attractions.
Other tourist destinations here are the Half Tunnel, Haight’s Place and Benguet-Kochi Park, Wagangan Rock Formation and Lourdes Grotto, Goat Cliff Adventure and Camping, 2nd Highest Point of the Philippine Highway System, Hidden Cypress Botanical Garden, and Mt. Timbac summit.
The Search for the Lucky Summer Visitor is an annual project of the BCBC as its way of helping promote tourism in Baguio. The tour, which used to be concentrated in Baguio and the strawberry farms of La Trinidad has included new and emerging destinations such as Atok and Tublay in Benguet and Pugo in La Union.
This year’s LSVs, spouses Ricardo and Carolyn Celestino, their children Jerome and his partner Jellyn Bautista, Julia, Eunice, 13 and grandchild Eugin are from Pasig City.
The LSVs also visited the Beacon Hill and Polig’s Farm, both in Tublay.
Beacon Hill is a theme park bearing symbols of the United Kingdom such as the Union Jack, the King’s Guards, the red-double decker buses, and telephone booths. Polig’s farm is a berry farm with a coffee shop designed like a kettle as centerpiece. By BCBC release
