Rotary tourism awardees named
Secretary Wanda Teo, business tycoon Andrew Tan and four ambassadors lead the list of the 13th Rotary Club of Manila (RCM) Tourism Awards to be given out on June 8 at the New World Hotel Makati.
The awardees are being recognized for their significant support for and contributions to the development and promotion of tourism in the country, said Robert Lim Joseph, RCM Tourism Awards committee chairman.
The awardees are: Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, for the successful staging of the Ms. Universe 2016, thus significantly promoting Philippine tourism worldwide.
Luis “Chavit” Singson, for his commitment and support to the staging of Miss Universe 2016.
Tourism Personality Award for Rotary: Rotary International District 3810 governor Roberto Pagdanganan, former secretary of tourism who developed the Korean market and opened the tourism office in Beijing in 2004.
Integrated Resort category: Andrew Tan of Megaworld Corporation for developing the 31-hectare leisure and entertainment township in Entertainment City, home to Megaworld’s upscale residential condoship, miniums, a luxury mall and international hotel brands, as well as the country’s first Grand Opera House with a seating capacity of 3,000.
Airline Category: Jaime Bautista of Philippine Airlines.
Sustainable Tourism category: Mina Gabor, president of the International School of Sustainable Tourism.
Transportation category: Brian Cu, Grab country head Philippines. Hotel category: Farid Schoucaire of New World Hotel, Makati City.
Media Category: Joanne Ramirez, columnist of The STAR and editor of PeopleAsia.
Integrated Resort HotelGaming category: Lawrence Ho of City of Dreams-Manila.
Tourism and Trade Events: Rosvi Gaetos, Assistant Secretary, Trade & Investment Promotion Group of the DTI.
Four foreign ambassadors will be recognized for promoting Philippine tourism: Korean Ambassador Kim Jae-Shin, US Ambassador Sung Kim, Japanese Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua.
A posthumous award will be given to the late former tourism secretary Jose Aspiras, recognized as father of the Balikbayan and the Reunion for Peace programs.