MANILA, Philippines – The city of Iloilo, capital of Iloilo province, is set to receive the Clean Tourist City award from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Mayor Jerry Treñas said on Thursday, Nov. 28.
Treñas shared the good news on the city’s official Facebook page, saying that the credit goes to people who are at the forefront of beautification projects.
“We are very happy, proud of our workers, especially those who are cleaning the city and beautifying it through the planting of flowers and ornamental plants,” said the mayor.
“And also to all those who document our gains, we are very proud of them,” he said in a statement.
“We have earned this award because of the hard work of our people, I think our efforts have paid off,” he added.
The Asean Clean Tourist City is an award given to cities that have a high quality of life, making it a good place to visit for both local and foreign tourists.
According to Asean, the Clean Tourist City Standard (CTCS) provides measurements by which Asean member-states could improve their cities or towns.
It was also seen as an answer to problems brought by climate change to Asean cities.
In its CTCS manual, Asean said the standard would help evaluate sustainability of Asean cities, the quality of tourism these offer and “identify areas that can be improved.”
It gives Asean member countries “benchmarks to aim for and ultimately lead to greater tourist satisfaction, greater number of visitors and better conditions for the local population,” Asean said.
Iloilo City will receive the award on January 2020, in a program at Brunei Darussalam.
In recent years, the city has been getting good reviews from tourists for mixing the old with the new—maintaining its old charm while renovating.
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