MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines won big at the 31st Annual World Travel Awards (WTA) with eight major titles under the Asia category, including Cebu being Asia’s Leading Wedding Destination for 2024.
The Asia & Oceania Gala Awards Ceremony 2024 was held at the City of Dreams in Parañaque on Tuesday, September 3. The list of awards was released on Wednesday, September 4.
This is the first time the Philippines hosted the esteemed travel and tourism awards ceremony.
Cebu, Philippines was crowned Asia’s Leading Wedding Destination, dethroning Bali, Indonesia which was previously the titleholder for five consecutive years. Cebu Vice Governor Hilario Davide III accepted the award on behalf of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
The Philippines was also named Asia’s Leading Dive Destination, while Amanpulo was recognized as Asia’s Leading Private Island Resort. Both have maintained the title since 2019.
The historic Walled City of Intramuros in Manila was also hailed as Asia’s Leading Tourist Attraction. It also held the title in 2016, 2020, and 2022.
The WTA was also named the Philippines Asia’s Leading Beach Destination and Leading Island Destination. Boracay was dubbed Asia’s Leading Luxury Island Destination, and El Nido Resorts Apulit Island was hailed as Asia’s Leading Sustainable Resort.
Vivere Azure was recognized as Asia’s Leading Boutique Beach Resort, while Anya Resort Tagaytay is the Philippines’ Leading Boutique Resort. Atmosphere Resorts & Spa remains Asia’s Leading Dive Resort for its third consecutive year.
The Philippines also bagged the following titles for hotels: Raffles Makati as Asia’s Leading Hotel Residences; Admiral Hotel Manila as Asia’s Leading Design Hotel; and Discovery Primea as Asia’s Leading Business Hotel. Ascott Makati also won Asia’s Leading Serviced Apartments 2024.
City of Dreams, Manila was named Asia’s Leading Casino Resort. It also won the title in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
The Philippines also won Asia’s Leading Marketing Campaign for “Love the Philippines” campaign, while Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco was named Transformational Leader Award in Tourism Governance.
“We are a nation that rises to challenges, innovates with passion, and embraces every opportunity with optimism, exerting every effort toward our country becoming a tourism powerhouse in Asia,” Frasco said.
Established in 1993, WTA recognizes and celebrates excellence across all sectors of the tourism industry and holds regional gala ceremonies within each key geographical region.
The Philippines, however, is still not among the leaders in Asia in terms of attracting foreign tourists, including in 2023, based on statistics gathered by Rappler from various sources.
Even within the ASEAN region, in 2023, the Philippines ranked 6th out of the 10 members. Thailand had 28.15 million arrivals in 2023, followed by Malaysia with 20 million, Singapore with 13.6 million, Vietnam with 12.6 million, Indonesia with 11.68 million, Philippines with 5.45 million, Cambodia with 5.43 million, Laos with 3.4 million, and Brunei with 2.2 million.
The data on Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Myanmar are from the 2023 data base of the UN World Tourism Organization, as of writing. The 2023 figure on tourist arrivals in Singapore is from its Department of Statistics; Philippines’ is from the Department of Tourism; Indonesia’s is from Jakarta Globe citing Indonesia’s Central Statistics Agency; Cambodia’s is from its Ministry of Tourism; Laos’ is from the Lao News Agency; Brunei’s is from the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism. – Rev Dela Cruz/Rappler.com
Rev Dela Cruz is a Rappler intern studying AB Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas.
