The STAR shines at SKAL awards

MANILA, Philippines - The STAR shone brightly Wednesday night when the newspaper won three awards at the 26th SKAL International Tourism Personality Awards.

STAR president Miguel Belmonte, who paid tribute to the newspaper’s editors and travel writers, received the Hall of Fame Award for the Newspaper of the Year category at the awards rites attended by the of movers and shakers in the country’s tourism industry at the New World Makati Hotel.

SKAL is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world promoting global tourism and friendship. This annual awards event celebrates the achievements of exemplary individuals in the Philippine tourism industry.

“This award gives due recognition to tourism personalities who have lived up to SKAL’s goals and objectives, and have invaluably served and contributed to the growth of the travel and tourism industry,” said SKAL International-Makati and SKAL National Committee president Robert Lim Joseph Jr.

“Mr. Belmonte received the Hall of Fame Award because he won for The STAR the Newspaper of the Year recognition three times already (2012, 2015 and 2016). It’s the highest award we can give at   SKAL,” Joseph added.

STAR columnists Valeriano “Bobit” Avila and Eduardo “Edu” Jarque Jr. both received their International Tourism Personality Awards for media advocacy category and newspaper lifestyle-travel and tourism category respectively.

Belmonte beamed with pride that night, saying, “I’m lucky to be working in a newspaper where we have the excellent travel writers, the best in the business. He shared his award with his co-awardees from The STAR, Jarque and Avila, and to STAR travel columnist Christine Dayrit, a past SKAL awardee, for “being the premier travel writer in the country.”  

He added it’s a commitment of The STAR to feature travel destinations like resorts, hotels, even restaurants to help boost Philippine tourism and the economy.

He added, “By helping promote local and foreign destinations, we also help our local airlines.

“What other countries can say that they have the three best islands? The Philippines has three — Palawan, Boracay and Cebu,” Belmonte told the crowd, referring to the recent “The World’s Best Islands” feature in the August 2016 issue of the international magazine Travel + Leisure, where Palawan ranked No. 1; Boracay, No. 2; and Cebu, No. 6.

Other awardees included Plantation Bay Resort and Spa owner Emmanuel Gonzalez (Hall of Fame for Resort Hotel category), Bulong Pulungan founder Lourdes Siytangco (Media Group category), Megaworld Corp. chairman and president Dr. Andrew Tan (Leader in Integrated Tourism Enterprise category), Philippine Airlines president and COO Jaime Bautista (Skalleague of the Year), Bonifacio Landmark and Realty Development Corp. president Hans Hauri (Tourism Association category), Turkish Airlines country manager Erhan Balaban (Foreign Airline category),  ABS-CBN COO for Broadcast Cory Vidanes (Media Personality of the Year), Bloomberry Resorts Corp. chairman and CEO Enrique Razon (Integrated Resort and Casino category), Megawide Construction Corp. chairman and CEO Michael Cosiquien (for the development of the Mactan Cebu International Airport) and Pan Pacific Travel Corp. Dr. James Dy (Inbound and Outbound Travel Agency category).