MANILA, 1 November 2019: Boracay Island won the prestigious Japan Tourism Awards last week in recognition of the Philippines’ efforts to clean up the island.
The Philippines’ Department of Tourism received the award on behalf of the island.
According to the Philippines News Agency’s report, DOT Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat personally received the Excellent Partner Award during the opening ceremony of the Tourism Expo Japan held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Osaka.
The award-giving body cited the “socially advanced initiatives” of the agency in the rehabilitation by taking a high risk of closing and pursuing a cohesive effort to implement Boracay’s physical, social, environmental and social recovery.”
Puyat had earlier received a World Travel Award at a ceremony on Phu Quoc Island in Vietnam recognising the DOT as Asia’s leading tourism board.
Commenting on the award presented to Boracay, she stated: “We share this award with the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) and DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government). Our combined efforts in the rehabilitation of Boracay is still a work in progress, but already we see the rewards,” she said.
The award was presented on the sidelines of the Third Tourism Expo Japan (TEJ) Ministerial Roundtable in collaboration with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) where the tourism chief was invited to be one of the panellists.
(Source: PNA)
