Philippines named Asia’s leading dive, beach site anew

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines was recognized as a leading dive destination and leading beach destination in Asia during the 29th World Travel Awards (WTA) held in Vietnam on Wednesday.

In a statement, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Intramuros, a Spanish-era landmark in Manila, was also named as Asia’s leading tourist attraction.

The Philippines won the leading beach destination in Asia award for the sixth time, beating India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

It is also the country’s fourth straight year as Asia’s leading dive destination, beating Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Intramuros, as Asia’s leading tourist destination, prevailed over the Angkor Temples of Cambodia; Borobudur Temple Compounds of Indonesia; Ha Long Bay of Vietnam; Sengan-en and Shoko Shuseikan Museum of Kagoshima in Japan; Taj Mahal of India; teamLab SuperNature of Macau, Great Wall, The Forbidden City and Terracotta Warriors, all in China; Tokyo Imperial Palace of Japan, and Victoria Peak of Hong Kong.

Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco lauded the results, saying the awards are “an affirmation to all of our tourism stakeholders and workers who have greatly sacrificed throughout the pandemic.”

“We look to the future with hope that through our combined efforts under the Marcos administration that has identified tourism to become a major pillar for economic recovery that not only will we survive the pandemic but we will thrive, we will endure and we will get back stronger than ever,” Frasco said in a video message.