MANILA — Malacañang on Friday said “it is truly more fun in the Philippines”, as it expressed gratitude over the country’s inclusion in the roster of “favorite” countries worldwide.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panel issued the statement after the Philippines ranked eighth in the list of the Top 20 countries that are most preferred by travelers, according to the 32nd annual survey conducted by New York-based luxury and travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler among its around 600,000 registered readers.
“The world has spoken: It is truly more fun in the Philippines,” Panelo said.
“We thank the readers of Conde Nast Traveler for making the Philippines eighth in their list of favorite countries in the world,” he added.
The list of winners was released by the international travel magazine on October 7.
The Philippines’ entry in the coveted list of favorite countries came after it garnered a score of 90.63, Condé Nast Traveler noted.
India topped the list, registering 92.87 points. It was followed by Thailand (92.37), Portugal (91.94), Sri Lanka (91.79), South Africa (91.59), Peru (91.28), and Greece (91.98).
Other countries that made it to the roster were Italy (90.62), Vietnam (90.46), Turkey (90.15), Japan (89.74), Mexico (89.7), Tanzania (89.62), Israel (89.54), Colombia (89.41), New Zealand (89.11), Ireland (89.08), Cambodia (89.03), and Croatia (88.83).
Panelo said the Philippines, being one of the travelers’ choice, came after it also bagged the two major awards at the recent 2019 World Travel Awards held at Phu Quoc island in Vietnam.
He attributed the Philippines’ latest recognition to the determination of concerned state agencies like the Department of Tourism (DOT) to promote the country in the world.
”We commend the Department of Tourism, their industry partners and other stakeholders for their splendid job,” the Palace official said.
”In its most recent report, the DOT counted a total of 5,554,950 visitors between January and August 2019. On top of this, the Philippines registered a 14.08 percent year-on-year increase in the country’s international inbound traffic,” he added.
In the same Readers’ Choice Awards, Condé Nast Traveler noted that Boracay was hailed as Asia’s best island.
Boracay was described as a “tropical idyll as you’ll find in Southeast Asia, with gentle coastlines and made-for-Instagram sunsets.”
Following Boracay was Cebu and the Visayas Islands (second place) and Palawan ranked (fourth place).