PH vies for 7 world tourism awards

MANILA – The Philippines earned seven nominations at the prestigious 2024 World Travel Awards (WTA), sustaining its streak as an internationally recognized tourist destination after bagging several awards from the same body over the past years.

This year, the country is nominated as Asia's Leading Beach Destination, Asia's Leading Dive Destination, and Asia's Leading Island Destination.

The historic Walled City of Intramuros was also nominated anew as Asia's Leading Tourist Attraction, Boracay as Asia's Leading Luxury Island Destination, and Cebu as Asia's Leading Wedding Destination.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) was nominated anew as Asia's Leading Tourist Board.

"These nominations underscore the dedicated efforts of the Department of Tourism since the inception of the Marcos administration," DOT Secretary Christina Frasco said in a news release Tuesday.

"We express gratitude to WTA for providing the Philippines a platform to continuously showcase our diverse tourism offerings not only within Asia but on the global stage, but most importantly, we express our thanks to our tourism stakeholders who continue to safeguard the myriad of tourism gems in the Philippines for all the world to love and enjoy," she added.

Frasco said 2023 was a banner year for the Philippines with the country clinching the World's Leading Dive Destination for the fifth straight year.

Also last year, the Philippines earned the Destination of the Year honor from online travel platform TripZilla, as well as the World's Leading City Destination and Asia's Best Cruise Destination by the WTA.

The country also bagged the Global Tourism Resilience award in 2023, recognizing its "global leadership, pioneering vision, and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity."

Voting for the WTA is open until July 28 through https://www.worldtravelawards.com/vote. (PNA)