NEGROS Occidental and Silay City won top honors in the Pearl Awards of the Association of Tourism Officer of the Philippines (ATOP) held at L’ Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City Saturday.
The awards event capped the three-day national convention of ATOP hosted by Negros Occidental and Department of Tourism-Western Visayas Region.
Negros Occidental was awarded Best Tourism-Oriented Local Government Unit (LGU) in the Provincial Category while Silay City was also awarded the Best Tourism-Oriented LGU in the City Category.
Panaad Festival, Negros Occidental’s festival of all festivals, was hailed Best Tourism Event of the Week or Month in the Provincial Category.
Silay City tourism officer Severino “Ver” Pacete placed second as Outstanding Tourism Officer next to Angono, Rizal tourism officer Patnubay Tiamson.
The Sinigayan Festival of Sagay City won the Best Tourism Event of the Week or Month in the City Category while the Anihan Festival of Dueñas, Iloilo took the award in the Municipal Category.
In Sports Adventure Category, Pulupandan, Negros Occidental was included in the best tourism event.
DOT Regional Director Helen Catalbas said this is the first time the ATOP convention has overwhelming attendance with a registration of 1,400 delegates.
Only 900 initially confirmed their attendance, so they hastily arranged for the accommodation of the more than 400 excess reservation, she said.