MANILA, Philippines - After the influential magazine Travel + Leisure named El Nido Resorts’ Pangulasian island in January as one of top 25 destinations in 2014, the group of island resorts in Palawan was also featured in the February issue of GQ and on the cover of Outdoor magazine, another American publication. It is also due to be featured in the Taiwan edition of Esquire.
According to travel specialist Sylvain Gianni of Asiaventure Services, who markets the Philippines to European tourists, a confluence of factors has focused the spotlight on the Philippines, El Nido in particular. These include global promotions of the Department of Tourism as well as social media.
Joey Bernardino, ENR marketing director, discloses that many of this year’s crop of writers from international magazines inquiring about El Nido’s four island resorts initially learned about ENR through other journalists. “The personal endorsements of El Nido Resorts by guests to their friends have also helped us promote the brand abroad.â€
Gianni says El Nido Resorts have captured the imagination of French travelers after it was featured in the French reality TV show Koh-Lanta in 2007. Seven years later, European travelers who saw the island on the TV series are still coming. Travelers find the beach experience and encounters with nature unrivaled. Because they need to travel longer distance to the Philippines, they “save up for this ‘dream island’ vacation and stay from 10 to 12 days.â€
Bacuit Bay is where three of the four El Nido Resorts are — Miniloc, Lagen, Pangulasian. The fourth resort is Apulit in Taytay Bay, deemed a snorkeling paradise.