The recognition of Philippine hotels and cities by the 2022 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Tourism Standards Awards is a reflection of the commitment of the industry to maintain the highest standards of tourism despite the pandemic, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said.
“This recognition of our local cities, and hotels and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Convention and Exhibition) venues not only serves as a testament to the Philippines’ commitment to uphold the best tourism standards, it also mirrors the strong Bayanihan spirit we have exhibited to overcome this crisis,” Puyat said.
“The current health crisis is a bane of the industry. Nevertheless, local tourism offices and our stakeholders aren’t backing down from this. By collaborating to help find solutions, they have proven that they can adapt despite the current limitations on their operations,” she added.
Awardees for the Asean clean tourist cities for 2022 include the cities of Baguio, the country’s summer capital and Ilagan in Isabela.
Nobu Hotel, Nuwa Hotel, Hyatt Regency and Conrad Manila were also recognized as among the best in the Asean Green Hotel Award for 2022.
Likewise, Conrad Manila’s Forbes Ballroom was included in the top five of Asean MICE Venue Award for meeting room category.
Quest Plus Conference Center Clark’s Magellan Ballroom and Baguio Country Club’s William Cameron Forbes Ballroom were also recognized among the top five of the MICE award.
Rounding up the list of national awardees for Asean MICE Venue Awards for the meeting room category were Astoria Palawan’s Mangrove Conference and Convention Center and Widus (Clark Marriott Hotel) Marriott Grand Ballroom.
The World Trade Center in Metro Manila and the Cordillera Convention hall in Baguio City were named as MICE Venue awardees under the exhibition venue category.
Meanwhile, DOT said it has trained over 30,000 tourism professionals, surpassing its targets for such in 2021.
Puyat expressed her satisfaction with the latest numbers noting their continued commitment to support the tourism industry towards its recovery and sustainability.
“Through these training programs, the DOT is capacitating our tourism workforce, maintaining service quality and ensuring that that their skills can match the requirements in the new normal” Puyat said.
As of 23 December 2021, the DOT has already surpassed its targets, providing necessary training to 30,680 tourism professionals, higher than its 16,000 target threshold.
Still, the Department’s target of having at least 45 percent of women trained was likewise achieved with 58 percent while the remaining 42 percent were men.
In addition, data from the DOT-Office of Industry Manpower Development or OIMD showed the total number of training in 2021 stood at 677, higher than the recorded 558 year-ago.
The trainings, which are conducted in coordination with the DOT regional offices also included the Department’s advocacy programs such as Barrier Free Tourism and TourISM WoRCS (Tourism Integrates, Supports and Minds Women’s Rights and Child Safety).
