Davao bags Asean Clean Tourist City award

DAVAO City will be awarded with the 1st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Clean Tourist City Award on January 26, 2018 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

A letter from Tourism undersecretary Alma Rita Jimenez addressed to Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio dated November 24 announced the awarding of the 1st Asean Clean Tourist City Award to Davao City for complying with the requirements of the Asean Clean Tourist City Standard.

“It’s an honor and great pride for Davao City to be chosen as A Clean Tourist City Awardee because it’s an affirmation that indeed Life is Here! The Asean Clean Tourist City Standard provides Asean member countries with a tool to help improve the quality of tourism in their cities, increase their marketing competitiveness but also improve the situation of local residents and their livelihood by alleviating poverty. It is also designed to protect the environment thus responding to the impacts of climate change and contributing to the sustainable development of Asean cities,” City Tourism Operations Office (CTOO) head Generose Tecson said.

She also added that the standard of the award is based on the series of indicators that will evaluate how sustainable Asean cities currently are, the quality of the tourism offered, and identify areas that can be improved.

“The assessors were mostly impressed with Museo (Dabawenyo), Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) and 911 and of course how spic and span the city is and how our cleaners pick up after everyone especially in the market,” she added.

Tecson also said she hopes the award will continue to inspire all the Dabawenyos to be conscious of everything around.

On the sidelines of the 39th Anniversary of NCCC Supermarket, the mayor who graced the event, expressed gratitude to everyone who was part of keeping Davao City how it is today thus the award.

“I’d like to thank the city government employees who made it possible and I’d like to thank the Dabawenyos’ support and commitment to the city and to our country that made it also possible,” the mayor said.

The award will be given during the Asean Tourism Forum on January 26 at Shangri-La Hotel, Chiang Mai, Thailand.