Phl resorts bag int’l travel awards

MANILA, Philippines - The El Nido Resorts in Palawan, a beach resort in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte and seven hotels and serviced apartments in the Philippines won international tourism awards.

El Nido Resorts bagged the Asia’s Responsible Tourism Award in the 2014 World Travel Awards held last Oct. 10 at The Oberoi in New Delhi, India.

El Nido Resorts bested seven other top tourist destinations in Asia in the category. These are the Alila Manggis in Indonesia, Andaman Discoveries, Orange County Resorts, Rainforest World Music Festival and Six Senses Yao Noi in Thailand; Song Saa Private Island in Cambodia; and Spice Village in Thekkady, India.

El Nido Resorts was recognized for giving great importance to sustainability. It has ensured that raw sewage water is not discharged into the sea by having a sewage treatment plan, strict segregation of wastes, storing of rainwater with use of water-saving devices and a complete plan for energy conservation. It also started using eco-friendly boat engines in 2006 to care for the sea.

El Nido Resorts was nominated in the Asia’s Responsible Tourism category last year and is also nominated in the World’s Responsible Tourism category this year.

Seven hotels and serviced apartments in the Philippines also won in the World Travel Awards.

These are Intercontinental Manila (Philippines’ leading business hotel), Fairmont Makati (Philippines’ leading hotel), Seda Hotels (Philippines’ leading hotel group), The Peninsula Suite at The Peninsula Manila (Philippines’ leading hotel suite), Amanpulo (Philippines’ leading resort), Ascott, The Residence (Philippines’ leading serviced apartment brand) and Ascott Makati (Philippines’ leading serviced apartment).

Meanwhile, Hannah’s Beach Resort and Convention Center in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte was chosen as the 2014 most outstanding tourist destination by Gawad Amerika Foundation (GAF), a non-profit organization of Filipinos based in the US and supported by non-profit American groups.

Hannah’s Beach Resort will be honored during the Gawad Amerika Awards Night (GAAN) on Nov. 8 at the Celebrity Center in Hollywood, California.

“GAAN is an independent award-giving body mainly composed of newspaper publishers and selected reputable community leaders in California and several states in the US,” said GAF founder Charles Simbulan.

On June 27, 2013, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Region I also awarded Hannah’s Beach Resort as the Most Outstanding Individual Initiative on Environment Management in recognition of the resort’s “noble efforts and accomplishments” in bringing back the old glory of the environment of Pagudpud through its various interventions for environmental protection and ecotourism industry.

Pangasinan featured in SSEAYP

Meanwhile, Philippine delegates for the 41st Ship for Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Program (SSEAYP) chose Pangasinan as the venue of their photo and video shoots for their tourism campaign.

Established in 1974, the SSEAYP is a joint program of ASEAN member countries and Japan and is implemented annually by the Office of the President through the National Youth Commission.

This year, SSEAYP has more than 300 youth ambassadors from the participating countries. They will be onboard the Nippon Maru ship for 51 days.

This year’s Philippine contingent, Dayaw Kalinaw, will do a series of activities before boarding the ship. One of their activities is their photo and video shoots for their profile book and other promotional campaign materials.