DOT lauds winners of ASEAN Tourism Awards 2024

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) lauds the winners of this year’s ASEAN Tourism Awards, with Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco noting that they have championed not just the Department’s set of standards for the local tourism industry but the whole region as well.

In an awarding ceremony held in Vientiane, Laos on the sidelines of the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2024, three Philippine cities and 21 outstanding tourism stakeholders from the Philippines were recognized during the ASEAN Tourism Standard Awards.

The tourism chief personally handed over the plaques to the awardees.

The cities of Baguio in Benguet, Ilagan in Isabela, and Tabuk in Kalinga were awarded as the ASEAN Clean Tourist City. These are the areas where the flow of visitors and where cultural, natural and/or man-made attractions exist, according to ASEAN Tourism Standards.

Prime properties Pearl Farm Beach Resort, Club Paradise Palawan, Bohol Beach Club, Seda Nuvali, and The Forest Lodge at Camp John Hay won the ASEAN Green Hotel Award, an accolade that recognizes hotel industry players whose operations are based on the achievement of sustainable tourism through environment-friendly principles, human resource development, resource consumption reduction, and local community involvement.

Fifteen Philippine venues were also recognized for the ASEAN Meeting, Incentive, Convention, Exhibition (MICE) Venue Awards. This specific accolade is granted to physical spaces with quality facilities and impressive services, designed and provided for MICE activities with purposes for meetings, exhibitions, and events. According to ASEAN, the major criteria for the awards encompass the standards of physical aspects, venue management, and people working within venues that competitively meet the requirements of MICE travelers.

It is divided into three categories: room, exhibition venue, and event venue category.

Properties bai Hotel Cebu, Clark Marriott Hotel, Hilton Clark Sun Valley Resort, Princesa Garden Island Resort & Spa, Seda Hotel Nuvali won the meeting room category; World Trade Center Metro Manila (Manila Exposition Complex), SMX Convention Center Manila, Cordillera Convention Hall by Baguio Country Club, Isabela Convention Center (ICON), and Iloilo Convention Center won the exhibition hall category; and Palacio del Sur by Marcian Group, Jpark Island Resort & Waterpark Cebu, Infinity Garden by Baguio Country Club, CAP-John Hay Trade and Cultural Center, Princesa Garden Island Resort and Spa by Modern Asia, Inc. were named as the winners for the event venue category.

Meanwhile, Palawan-based property Daluyon Beach and Mountain Resort was named as a lead partner for “Enchanting Gastronomical Sabang Delights, Beach Forest and Caves” under the ASEAN Sustainable Tourism Awards.

During the ATF 2024 Philippine night hosted by DOT and its marketing arm Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), Secretary Frasco acknowledged all the winners present.

She emphasized the significant contributions of tourism stakeholders from the private sector to make the industry proper not just through revenue contributions but by employing millions of Filipinos.

“𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴—𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴—𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺,” Secretary Frasco said during the Philippine Night Function in Laos.

“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘈𝘚𝘌𝘈𝘕. 𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥,” she added.

𝗤𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗺 – 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗡 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲

With the theme “Quality and Responsible Tourism – Sustaining ASEAN Future,” The Philippines, represented by Secretary Frasco, also shared its commitment to sustainable and responsible tourism practices in a series of panel discussions participated by tourism ministers, representatives from various governments, as well as private sector organizations within the region.

“𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘴, 𝘑𝘳., 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘴,” said Frasco.

“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘴𝘪𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦,” added the tourism chief.

During her intervention, Secretary Frasco took the opportunity to invite her fellow tourism ministers and National Tourism Organization heads to the Philippines, as the country takes its turn to Chair the 36th UNWTO Joint Commission Meeting of East Asia and the Pacific, and the Commission of South Asia in Cebu this year.

“𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦-𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘗𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳-𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘞𝘛𝘖 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺,” the tourism chief said.

Joining the tourism chief in representing the Philippines is National Tourism Organization (NTO) head OIC-Undersecretary Verna C. Buensuceso, Undersecretary Shahlimar Hofer Tamano, and Assistant Secretary Rica Bueno.

The meeting was also attended by ASEAN top officials and tourism ministers from the region.