Angeles named Asia’s best emerging culinary destination

MANILA, Philippines — Angeles City in Pampanga, the birthplace of Filipino favorite sisig, was recognized as “Asia’s best emerging culinary city destination” for 2024 by the World Culinary Awards 2024.

Angeles City bested nominees for the said award such as Hanoi in Vietnam, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Kyoto in Japan and Taipei in Taiwan.

The “Asia’s best emerging culinary city destination” award conferred on Angeles City “underscores the exceptional talent, creativity and dedication of its local chefs and food artisans,” said Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco.

“The city’s rich culinary heritage, led by its iconic dishes like sisig, continues to captivate food enthusiasts not only in the Philippines but across the world, showcasing the power of Filipino cuisine on the global stage,” she added.

She also said the efforts of the local government unit of Angeles City, particularly enacting an ordinance that declared “sisig babi” or pork sisig as an “intangible heritage,” helped “preserve and promote the city’s culinary legacy,” resulting in the award.

DOT’s Central Luzon regional director Richard Daenos accepted the award on behalf of Angeles City during the gala ceremony of the World Culinary Awards 2024 held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 3.

The World Culinary Awards is part of the World Travel Awards that bestowed many recognitions on the Philippines in the past.

Meanwhile, DOT’s attached agency Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) was hailed as “best national tourism organization in Asia” at the 33rd Annual TTG Travel Awards in Bangkok, Thailand on Sept. 26.

Before the award, the TPB promoted the Philippines as a destination of choice for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions through the “MICE Philippines: We Take Your Business to Heart program” at the Incentive Travel & Conventions Meetings Asia from Sept. 24 to 26.

The presentation resulted in generation of P1.7 billion worth of initial sales leads, said Frasco.