By Diann Calucin
Manila was hailed as the best tourism-oriented local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines during the 17th Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP) Pearl Awards 2022 held at Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City on Thursday, Oct. 27.
Apart from being the overall grand champion, five other awards were received by Manila Mayor Maria Sheilah "Honey" Lacuna-Pangan at the recognition ceremony.
The capital city was also recognized as the grand champion in Best Tourism Festival for its entry "Traslacion 2020."
The Best Tourism Festival citation recognizes the cities that promote religious practices and honor community saints.
Manila was also recognized as first runner-ups for Best Tourism Month Celebration (City Level) and Best Program for Culture and Arts (City Level).
The Manila city government's entries for these categories were "Manila Tourism Month Celebration" and "Conservation of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Properties of the City of Manila."
Meanwhile, the capital city also bagged the second runner-up awards for Best Tourism Promotion (City Level) and Best Tourism Promotion Video (City Level).
"8 Tourism Hubs and Made in Manila" and "Welcome po kayo sa Manila: Paskong Manileño" were the entries of the city government for the said categories.
Lacuna-Pangan was joined by Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts of Manila officer-in-charge Charlie Duñgo in receiving the awards.
The Tourism Pearl Awards program is an annual ATOP and Department of Tourism (DOT) competition. It is participated by local government units in the country.
The judging and assessment of the finalists was held last Sept. 29 at the University of Santo Tomas.