The cities of Sagay and Bago in Negros Occidental made it to the Green Destination Top 100 Stories List in the world during the Green Destinations and Future of Tourism Summit in Athens, Greece, Tuesday night, September 27.
The unveiling ceremony of the Green Destination Top 100 Stories List was attended by 250 delegates from 43 countries.
Sagay City was recognized for its story on “Mangrove Forest Protection through Community-based Eco Tourism”, while Bago City was cited for “Reviving the Majestic Diversity of the Bago Watershed”.
Green Destinations is a Netherlands-based organization working on the assessment, capacity building, and certification of destinations and businesses committed to sustainable tourism.
Every year the Green Destinations Top 100 Stories competition collects sustainable tourism stories and good practices from destinations all over the world to be shared as inspiring examples to others, from tourism professionals to travelers.
By telling their stories, destination management organizations are acknowledged and recognized for the solutions they have implemented in response to challenges and problems to sustainable development they have faced.
The inclusion of Sagay City, which is home to the 32,000-hectare protected seascape, was determined following a month-long evaluation by the Netherlands-based Green Destinations Foundation earlier this year.
“We are honored for this international recognition and it is actually a tribute to our past and present leaders and men and women who worked hard for its decade of protection”, Sagay Mayor Narciso Javelosa Jr. said.
Vice Mayor Leo Rafael Cueva, who championed the sustainable tourism development in 2012, said “we should continue our best efforts as we make Sagay City’s destination for the next generations”.
The international recognition is part of the legacy of the late governor Alfredo G. Marañon Jr., the father of the Sagay Marine Reserve, City Tourism Officer Helen Cutillar said.
The conservation and responsible tourism story of Sagay focused on its protected seascape, including Suyac Island, other island communities and the contiguous mangrove greenbelt which protects the city from strong typhoons.
BAGO CITY
Bago City was recognized for its story on rehabilitation of its watershed – “Reviving the Majestic Diversity of the Bago Watershed”, Mayor Nicholas Yulo said.
Patice Talaue of the Green Destination Training Program, Susan Santos de Cardenas of the Society for Sustainable Tourism, GD President Albert Salman, GD Board Member Hugo de Jong, Councilor Josefa Matti and City Tourism Officer Mae Ann Furtos (l-r) during the recognition rites in Athens.*
“We are happy with the award given to us by the Green Destinations. This international distinction will surely motivate us to do more to sustain what we were already successfully doing and that is the preservation and conservation of the Bago Watershed,“ he said.
The recognition is a true testament of the collaborative effort among the various stakeholders, which is inspiring, Yulo added.
Bago Councilor Ma. Josefa Matti, Sangguniang Tourism Committee chair, and Senior Tourism Operations Officer Mae Ann Furtos accepted Bago’s award from Green Destination President Albert Salman and Board Member Hugo de Jong.*