BAGUIO CITY – First-time visitors of the Summer Capital can have a chance to be recipients of a 4-day red carpet treatment from the city government and the members of the media once they will be chosen as this year’s Lucky Summer Visitor during the search to be done by a committee along the national highway in Sison, Pangasinan and Rosario, La Union this coming Maundy Thursday.
Dhobie de Guzman, president of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) and executive producer of ABS-CBN Northern Luzon, said the criteria for this year’s lucky summer visitors are a group of 4 to 6 individuals who are preferably young professionals and are first-time visitors of Baguio City and Benguet.
The annual Search for the Lucky Summer Visitor is a joint project of the city government and the BCBC, the umbrella organization of media practitioners in Baguio and Benguet, which has been going on for over five decades now.
“The red carpet treatment of our lucky summer visitors is part of the contribution of the local media in continuously promoting Baguio City and Benguet as one of the must-see tourist destinations of foreign and domestic tourists,” de Guzman stressed.
The BCBC will be deploying several search teams in Sison- Pangasinan and Rosario, La Union from 6 am up to 10 am of Maunday Thursday to interview passengers of buses plying the Baguio route who will be qualified to be this year’s lucky visitors.
The lucky visitors will be receiving four days of red carpet treatment from the organizers from Maundy Thursay up to Easter Sunday that includes free hotel accommodation, free food, guided tours to the different tourist destinations in Baguio and Benguet as well as nearby La Union, a chance to personally meet Baguio City officials, La Trinidad municipal officials and Benguet provincial officials during scheduled visits, free entertainment from local artists, free souvenir items among others that will be provided by the sponsors.
After the selection of the lucky visitors, the municipal government of La Union will be sponsoring a brief tour to one of its tourist destinations before the convoy will proceed to the barangay hall of Twin Peaks, Tuba, Benguet where a short cultural program showcasing the rich culture and traditions of the Ibalois will be showcased with a briefing on the existing tourist spots of the municipality.
The convoy will then motor to Baguio City where they will be presented in a motorcade to local residents prior to a courtesy call to Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan at the city hall.
Among the tourist destinations which the visitors are expected to visit include Camp John Hay, the Philippine Military Academy (PMA, Mines View Park, Wright Park, Burnham Park, Tam-awan Village, Lourdes Groto and the city’s central business district area.
In Benguet, the tourist destinations where the visitors will visit include the La Trinidad strawberry fields and municipal hall, the Benget Provincial Capitol, the famous La Presa in Tuba town while they will also have a chance to ride the zip lines of Pugo Adventure (PUGAD) in nearby Pugo, La Union.
The lucky visitors will also be treated to nightly entertainment by well-known local singers at the media camp established at Camp Peppot Ilagan which is within the Burnham Park area.
The lucky visitors will also be given a free ride home courtesy of the local transport organization who had been supporting the activity through the years.
De Guzman appealed to visitors who will be interviewed by the search teams to be honest in their declarations in order to make sure that those beneficiaries of the activity are really first-time visitors to the city so that they will be able to enjoy their stay and also contribute in promoting the city as a must-see destination for others who have not yet visited Baguio and Benguet.