THE Department of Tourism (DOT) celebrates another milestone as Cebu Island secures third place in the Area Category of the prestigious NEWT Awards 2024, further highlighting the impact of the ‘Love the Philippines’ campaign in strengthening the countryโs position in the Japanese market.
DOT Tokyo Office Tourism Attachรฉ Niel Ballesteros represented Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco in receiving the award from Mr. Tomotaka Isono of Reiwa Travel during the awarding ceremony held on January 25 at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo.
๐ก๐๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐: ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ด๐ป๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ด๐น๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐น ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ
The NEWT Awards, organized by the global travel booking app NEWT, honor the worldโs most sought-after destinations, hotels, and flights based on traveler preferences. Rankings are determined by the total value of tour bookings from December 1, 2023, to November 30, 2024.
Cebuโs top-three ranking underscores its growing appeal among Japanese and international travelers, reinforcing its position as a premier island destination.
“๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ (๐๐๐) ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถโ๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด 2024. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ’๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ญ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ’๐ด ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ต ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ด, ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด,โ Secretary Frasco enthused.
๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐
Cebuโs recognition at the NEWT Awards comes amid a surge in Japanese tourist interest in the Philippines. Data from Rakuten Travel revealed that accommodation bookings in the country during the 2023-2024 holiday season increased by 1.82 times compared to the previous yearโthe second-highest growth rate on the Japanese hotel booking platform.
Meanwhile, leading Japanese travel company HIS ranked Cebu as the seventh most-booked international destination during the New Year period and fifth in the โRapid Growthโ category, with an outstanding 136.8% year-on-year increase in bookings.
โ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ท๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด,โ added the Tourism Chief.
The DOT attributes this growth to its proactive ‘Love the Philippines’ promotional efforts in Japan, including high-impact marketing initiatives such as the fan meeting of Japanese celebrity Alan Shirahama and a mega familiarization trip for Japanese media and influencers. The Departmentโs strategic collaborations with Japanese travel agencies have also played a vital role in strengthening awareness of the Philippines as a top-tier travel destination.
๐๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป: ๐ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐บ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฃ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐
Japan remains one of the Philippinesโ largest source markets, ranking third after South Korea and the United States. In 2024, Japanese arrivals saw a significant 22.84% increase, reaching 444,528 visitors.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ-๐ฐ๐ง-๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถโ๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด,โ Secretary Frasco emphasized.
With the sustained momentum of the ‘Love the Philippines’ campaign, the DOT continues to intensify its efforts to attract more Japanese tourists and further expand the countryโs footprint in key global markets.
Editorโs Note: This article has been sourced from the Department of Tourism Facebook Page.
