CLARK FREEPORT –– Cebu province and Dumaguete City have bagged several awards in the Philippine Sports Tourism Awards held in Marriot Clark here on Thursday.
Clark Development Corp., Universal Robina Corporation, Coca-Cola Beverages Phils., and Smart Communications continued to support the event, which is now in its fourth year.
Cebu took in the International Event of the Year award for initiating the 70.3 Ironman that drew more than 2,000 entries from 57 countries.
Sunrise Events Inc. clinched the Organizer of the Year award for initiating events in 2019 such as Xterra, Ironkids, Irongirl, and Ironman 70.3.
Dumaguete received the Organizer of the Year award for its 2019 events like the Sandurot Half Marathon, 1st Visayas Beach Ultimate Open, Little League Visayas, Visayas Camo of Jr. NBA Philippines, Dumaguete Dragonboat Challenge, and Dumaguete Triathlon.
Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Remollo and Manuel V. Pangilinan were hailed as Sports Tourism Personality of the Year.
The Tour de Cebu, begun in 2014, won the Adventure Event of the Year award for assembling historic motorsports enthusiasts and paving the way for a touristic motorsports rally across the Visayas.
Other awardees in the 4th Philippine Sports Tourism Awards include People’s Television Network for News Coverage of the Year, New Clark City for Sports Venue of the Year, Philippine Airlines for Airline of the Year, Resorts World Manila for Charity Event of the Year, Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines for Event Sponsorship of the Year, The Mansion Boutique Hotel and Villas for Hotel of the Year, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority for Destination Marketing of the Year, Triathlon Association of the Philippines for Sports Association of the Year, TINMAN Ilocos Norte for Event of the Year (domestic) and Clark Freeport Zone for Sports Tourism Destination of the Year.