BAGUIO CITY – Various public and private tourist destinations and facilities in the Cordillera will be conferred the 2025 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) tourism Standards Awards that will serve as an added boost to the robust growth of the region’s tourism industry.
Adjudged the ASEAN Community-based Tourism Award were the Bila tourism village in barangay Bila, Bauko, Mountain Province and the Pidlisan village in Fedilisan, Sagada, Mountain Province; The ASEAN Public Toilet Awards will be conferred to the Cordillera Convention hall of the Baguio Country Club and the City Environment and Parks Management Office – Botanical Garden and Wright Park public toilets that are managed by the local government while the ASEAN Spa Services Award will go to North Haven Spa and The Spa at the Camp John Hay Manor.
Initially, the aforesaid awardees and short-listed and endorsed by the Department of tourism – Cordillera Administrative Region (DOT-CAR) after a rigorous assessment process that was conducted among the screened entries.
Subsequently, the qualified entries were subjected to further evaluation where the same were able to demonstrate excellence in meeting the standards of the ASEAN Tourism Standards Awards.
The annual recognition honors the dedication and exceptional performance of local tourism industry stakeholders in elevating the visitor experience to a higher level and promoting sustainable tourism practices in their respective areas of operation.
In a statement, the DOT-CAR commended the awardees for their achievements and the agency is eagerly anticipating witnessing their continued pursuit of setting high standards of quality services in the region.
Earlier, the 10-member ASEAN considered the standardization of tourism services essential for enhancing quality of tourism products and services as well as promoting a responsible management among tourism businesses and stakeholders in the region.
It created seven tourism standards under the auspices of ASEAN National tourism Organizations that include ASEAN Green Hotel Standard; ASEAN Spa Services Standard; ASEAN Clean Tourist City Standard; ASEAN Community-based Standard; ASEAN Home Stay Standard; ASEAN Public Toilet Standard and ASEAN MICE Venue Standard.
Last year, three cities and 21 outstanding tourism stakeholders from the country were recognized during the 2024 ASEAN Tourism Standard Awards held in Laos.
Baguio City; Ilagan City, Isabela and Tabuk City, Kalinga were awarded as the ASEAN Clean Tourist City. The said cities highlighted the flow of visitors and where cultural, natural or man-made attractions exists based on ASEAN Tourism Standards.
Further, Forest Lodge in Camp John Hay also shared the limelight after being conferred the ASEAN Green Hotel Award, an accolade that recognizes hotel industry players whose operations are based on the achievement of sustainable tourism through environment-friendly principles, human resource development, resource consumption and local community involvement. By Dexter A. See
