There is no stopping the Philippines from bagging accolades as an in-demand travel destination as the country’s top tourist destination Palawan was hailed as one the Most Desirable Island among the world’s best in the 21st Wanderlust Travel Awards.
The country’s Tourism Board, through the Philippine Department of Tourism-Central Visayas Office also placed 6th among hundreds of special entries in the Wanderlust Sustainability Initiative Category for its Dive7 Program.
The awards were given by the prestigious Wanderlust travel magazine, one of the United Kingdom’s longest running publications that has been at the forefront of sustainable travel for 29 years.
Palawan’s rich and diverse natural seascapes and landscapes have made it one of the most beautiful islands in the world.
Known the world over as the Philippine’s last ecological frontier and World’s Best Island, the province of Palawan harbors vast tracts of tropical rainforests and a huge expanse of marine wilderness.
Thick canopies of trees carpet mountain ranges running the length of the mainland.
Fringing reefs and coral atolls open a new realm to discover under the clear waters surrounding this archipelago. Ribbons of meandering streams and rivers wind through the mountains, nurturing robust stands of mangrove in the lowlands before flowing out to the sea.
The Calauit Safari Park in Busuanga is home to exotic and endemic species of animals that roam freely in its verdant hills and plains. Improvements will be made for the development of the park to enhance its potentials as tourism destination.
In the middle of the Sulu Sea lies the Tubbataha Reefs, a pair of coral atolls that was declared a National Marine Park by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 306 issued in August 1988. In 1993, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named it a World Heritage Site for its highly diverse collection of fishes and other marine life. The Tubbataha Reefs is also part of the Coral Triangle considered a supreme marine habitat in Asia.
Another World Heritage Site is the Puerto Princesa City Subterranean River National Park or commonly known as the Puerto Princesa Underground River (PPUR) along the west coast.
Proclaimed as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature, the PPUR has one of the longest underground rivers in the world. It is also noted for its old growth forests, cathedral caves, white sand beaches, limestone cliffs and unique flora and fauna.
In the south, Ursula Island is a haven for migratory and resident birds. Mt. Mantalingahan traversing five towns in the south was proclaimed a Protected Landscape area by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 1815 on June 23, 2009.
Cebu was also nominated this year as Most Desirable Region (Rest of the World) by the award-giving body.
“On behalf of the Department of Tourism, we thank the readers of Wanderlust Magazine for their love and support for the Philippines. These awards reflect the efforts to revive the tourism industry that are well underway especially because of the Marcos administration’s thrust towards prioritizing tourism development. Rest assured that we will continue with our mission to herald the Philippines and the Filipino brand to the world, and to ensure the continued sustainability of our islands,” Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said.
Frasco led the Philippine delegation to the World Travel Market recently held in London.
These new awards add to the long list of recognitions the country has earned even at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
In June this year, Conde Nast Travel (CNT) also named the Philippines as part of the 40 Most Beautiful Countries in the World, specifically citing the remarkable cave system of the Puerto Princesa Underground River, the mysteriously uniform Chocolate Hills of Bohol, and the panoramic views of the Banaue and Cordilleras Rice Terraces.
The following month, the renowned Travel + Leisure magazine also named the country’s tourist magnets Boracay, Palawan, and Cebu part of the 25 Best Islands in the World.
TIME Magazine also lauded Boracay as one of the 50 World’s Greatest Places of 2022.
In September, the Philippines, yet again, won Asia’s leading dive and beach destination, and the historic Walled City of Intramuros as Asia’s leading tourist attraction at the World Travel Awards (WTA) in Vietnam.
