CEBU CITY, Philippines – International hotel and rental booking site Agoda included 24 Cebu-based hotels in its 11th Agoda Gold Circle Award in 2019.
Agoda, whose headquarters is based in Singapore, announced the full list of winners, which included over 1,900 hotels worldwide, on their official website on January 6, 2020.
The winners from Cebu are Cebu White Sands Resort and Spa, Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino, Rajah Park Hotel, Castle Peak Hotel, Alpa City Suites Hotel, Cebu R Hotel – Capitol, Diamond Suites and Residences, Hotel Elizabeth Cebu, Harolds Hotel, Goldberry Suites and Hotel, Red Planet Cebu, The Henry Hotel Cebu, Dohera Hotel, Cuarto Hotel, Mandarin Plaza Hotel, Kandaya Resort, Alicia Apartelle, BIG Hotel, Nordtropic Resort and Residences, S Hotel and Residences, CSuites at 8 Newtown Mactan Cebu, La Playa Estrella Beach Resort, and Jelly’s Haven Resort.
In a press statement, Agoda said that the number of recipients of their Agoda Gold Circle Award increased to 300 hotels and four markets since 2018.
Thailand topped their 2019 awards with 366 hotels followed by Japan with 209 hotels and Indonesia with 192.
The Philippines ranked 4th with 152 Agoda-awarded hotels, China occupies the 5th place with 150, Vietnam is 6th with 122. Other counties on their top 10 list includes South Korea (7th) with 92 Agoda awarded hotels, Taiwan (8th) with 74, Malaysia (9th) with 72, and France (10th) with 65.
In selecting recipients of the Agoda Gold Circle Award, the group gave emphasis on superior service, high scoring peer-to-peer reviews posted on their booking site, pricing and availability excellence.
They also added participation in the Agoda Private Sales in their 2019 criteria.
“Winners were judged on criteria such as payment option choices, with 42 per cent offering alternative payment methods, while a quarter have joined the Agoda VIP program, a marketing solution designed to further support increased room night sales and provide better visibility for participating hotels, and 36 per cent embracing innovative and convenient technology that makes traveling easier for customers worldwide via Agoda’s Yield Control System (YCS) application,” the company’s statement said. / dcb