AN elated Mayor Honey Lacuna proudly announced that the City of Manila has been hailed as the “World’s Leading City Destination for 2023” by the prestigious World Travel Awards 2023 held at Burj Al Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
“This is the first time the country has won the said major award… definitely a first for the capital city,” Lacuna said, as she thanked all the city officials and employees whose all-out support and joint efforts she cited as having made the recognition possible.
With the new worldwide recognition, the lady mayor said that special gratitude goes to the Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts in Manila (DTCAM) headed by Charlie Dungo, whom she said had taken the extra mile to promote Manila as a must-see, tourist destination.
The unique recognition, Lacuna said, will serve to inspire her, the DTCAM and the entire officialdom as well to do even better in creating ways to promote Manila as a destination for foreigners visiting the country and even for local tourists.
For the first time, the Philippines was named the World’s Leading City Destination for its capital, Manila, during the awarding held on December 1, 2023.
Manila, it was learned, beat contenders that included the US, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, among others.
A total of four major awards were bagged by the Philippines at the World Travel Awards 2023 held in Dubai and for the first time too, the Philippines received the Global Tourism Resilience Award for demonstrating “global leadership, pioneering vision and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity.”
The Philippines was also named the World’s Leading Dive Destination and the World’s Leading Beach Destination for the second time, defending the titles in 2022.
The 30th annual World Travel Awards seeks to recognize achievements in travel, tourism and hospitality industries.
World Travel Awards supports, promotes and develops the global travel and tourism industry by identifying and rewarding excellence and inspiring its practitioners to continually raise the standards of their product and service offering.
