San Carlos City tagged as ‘sustainable destination’

San Carlos City in Negros Occidental was named one of the Top 100 Sustainable Destinations for 2018 by Green Destinations.

“We have been notified that San Carlos City, Negros Occidental made it to the list of selected destinations for the 2018 Sustainable Destinations Top 100 competition. This selection is expected to be officially announced at the Global Green Destinations Conference and also the World Tourism Day on September 27, 2018 in the Netherlands,” San Carlos City Tourism Officer Philip Gerard Maisog said.

The City of Nijmegen in the Netherlands that has been awarded the title European Green Capital 2018, will host this year’s Global Green Destinations conference on September 26-28, 2018. Green Destinations is a non-profit organization for sustainable tourism.

“We assure the people that we will continue our tourism sustainability efforts. We will be working with communities because they are exactly involved on tourism places. By that, we will have more effective and manageable tourism sustainability actions,” Maisog further said.

Maisog will be the one to represent San Carlos City in Sustainable Destinations Awards Ceremony in the Netherlands and he will be presenting also a success story about the special achievement of San Carlos City for sustainable tourism. The presentation will also serve as the nomination for the 2019 Best of Top 100 Awards in world's leading travel trade show, the ITB Berlin, on March 2019.

Mayor Gerardo Valmayor Jr. is happy and proud that San Carlos City is included in the 2018 Sustainable Destinations Top 100 competition.

"This is the product of our effort to sustain the development in tourism industry in San Carlos City. This will also serve as an encouragement for us to continue and improve further our tourism efforts. The implementation of environment-friendly programs will continue especially in Sipaway Island and mountain resorts. We believe that through this environmental programs, we can protect and sustain the tourism industry in San Carlos City”, Mayor Valmayor said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Region VI is proud of what San Carlos City has achieved.

“The Department of Tourism Region VI congratulates San Carlos City for making it to the list of 2018 Sustainable Destinations. This only proves the booming tourism industry in Western Visayas. This recognition is one that we should be proud of,” DOT Region VI Director Helen Catalbas said.

This is the first time for San Carlos City to be included in Top 100 Sustainable Destinations, aside from being the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Environmentally Sustainable City and bagged the 1st ASEAN Clean Tourist City (ACTC) Award in 2017. Last year, other Philippine destinations made it also to Top 100 Sustainable Destination list that includes Lake Holon in Tboli, Lake Sebu in South Cotabato and Bojo, Aloguinsan in Cebu.