THE recognition given to San Carlos City as among the 2018 Top 100 Sustainable Destinations is seen to open more opportunities for the city especially in terms of further developing it as a destination.
San Carlos City and Lio Tourism Estate, a private institution based in Palawan, were the only recipients from the Philippines of the award given by Green Destinations, a non-profit organization accredited by Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) promoting sustainable tourism.
The award presented by Albert Salman, president of Green Destinations Top 100 Selection Panel, was received by city tourism officer Philip Gerard Maisog in rites held at Lindenberg Home for the Arts, Nijmegen in The Netherlands on Thursday.
Cristine Mansinares, supervising tourism operations officer of Negros Occidental, on Friday, September 28, said the inclusion of San Carlos City in the list is an inspiring story to share.
Mansinares said the city government’s efforts on environmental protection and sustainable local economic development have paid off.
“The recognition will open up more opportunities for the city to improve their sustainability efforts and competitiveness as a destination through the network of Green Destinations,” she added.
Maisog, in an interview with SunStar Bacolod on Friday, said they were first notified to receive the award in August this year but the awarding was just held this week to coincide with the World Tourism Day celebration.
Maisog said San Carlos City is the only local government unit (LGU) in the country to get in the list, and that they are happy and proud that its sustainable practices were given proper recognition.
“It is vindicating to know that we are on the right track especially with sustainable tourism. That quality is better than quantity,” he said, adding that “only by working together we can achieve our goals and become better contributors to society.”
Green Destinations, in a statement, said the Top 100 Sustainable Destinations initiative aims to recognize tourism destinations that have worked hard to make a difference and take sustainability seriously.
It said that nominated destinations had to clarify what they have been doing to comply with the 30 core criteria of the Green Destinations Standard recognized by GSTC.
Nominations were evaluated by the Sustainable Top 100 Team and by members of the Top 100 International Committee, which includes over 60 tourism sustainability experts, the organization said.
In January this year, San Carlos City also received the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Clean Tourist City award in rites held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The city bagged the award after complying with the requirements of the Asean Clean Tourist City Standard (ACTCS), which is designed to protect the environment thus, responding to the impacts of climate change and contributing to the sustainable development of Asean cities.
Also, ACTCS aims to provide member-countries with a tool that will improve the quality of tourism in their cities, and increase their marketing competitiveness, but also improve the situation of local residents and their livelihood by alleviating poverty.
Prior to this award, San Carlos City was also recognized as one of the Asean’s 50 Landmark Cities and Environmentally Sustainable City.
“These recognitions will make the city more attractive to tourists and investors,” Mansinares said, as she urged other LGUs in the province to continue implementing programs and projects geared towards sustainable tourism development.