Mayor Honey Lacuna announced that the city government of Manila which she heads, once again reaped a number of top awards in recognition of the local government’s efforts in promoting tourism.
The city, Lacuna said, was declared Grand Champion in seven categories and first-runner up in two other categories and also received a Hall of Fame award.
The said awards were received in behalf of Manila by Department of Tourism, Culture and the Arts of Manila Director, Charlie ‘Mama Cha’ Dungo, at the 25th ATOP Pearl Awards mounted by the Department of Tourism – Philippines and the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) held in Koronadal, South Cotabato.
With pride, the mayor stated that Manila bagged the Grand Champion award as Best Practices in Community-Based Tourism; Best Religious Festival ; Institutionalized Culture and the Arts Program; Best Sports Tourism; Best Tourism Week/Month; Best Local Event Hosting and Best Tourism Promotions: Brochure.
Manila was also first runner-up in Best Tourism Oriented LGU and Best Tourism Promotions-Video and is now a Hall of Famer for Best Religious Festival (Traslacion).
Lacuna thanked the officers and staff of DTCAM for their continued efforts in promoting Manila as a must-see destination for both local and foreign tourists.
According to Lacuna, the city of Manila consistently bags awards during such events.
Lacuna also thanked the award-giving body for the prestigious recognition, saying the awards will serve as inspiration for her and the city officials and employees concerned to strive even more to boost the city’s tourism.
“These awards are a validation that the city of Manila is doing the right thing in promoting tourism and exerting all-out efforts to attract tourists, both local and international. Highly commendable are the staff and leadership of DTCAM, especially its chief Mama Cha, who all had been working very hard so that our plans and programs toward a “Magnificent Manila” will come to a fruition at the soonest time possible,” the mayor said.
For his part, Dungo said the DTCAM would not have received the said awards without the full backing from Lacuna, stressing that her mayor’s all-out support has made his job easier, along with the implementation of plans and projects geared toward tourism promotion.
