The country’s surfing capital Siargao has been chosen as this year’s top favorite island in Asia by the readers of Condé Nast Traveler (CNT) magazine.
The teardrop-shaped island garnered a score of 97.77 in the 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards’ Top Islands in Asia category.
It is joined by two other Philippine islands, Palawan and Boracay that landed on the third and eighth spots with scores 97.54 and 93.26, respectively.
The Philippine islands join other world favorites in Asia such as Indonesia’s Raja Ampat Islands (second), Thailand’s Phi Phi Islands (ninth), and Phuket (tenth).
The Department of Tourism welcomed this new recognition as top tourists destinations in Asia.
It said that their inclusion is a testament to the hard work of the tourist industry “to strengthen our position as a top-of-mind destination” for international travelers.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said she is grateful for this new recognition from CNT as it came at a time when the agency is “exhausting all means to revive tourism in the country.”
“We have worked to strengthen our position as a top-of-mind destination around the globe while ensuring that health and safety protocols across our destinations are implemented and observed,” Puyat said in a statement.
“This recognition bodes well for the recovery of the country’s tourism industry and our latest global campaign ‘More Fun Awaits,’ which showcases the DOT’s preparations for international leisure travel once the restrictions are lifted,” she added.
Philippines also ranked 20th on CNT’s list of Top Countries in the World with a score of 91.63.
For the top islands category, CNT readers rank the top islands in the world, from Indonesia to the United States.
They gather feedback from more than 800,000 patrons worldwide and ask them about their recent travel experiences in the world’s top hotels, resorts, cities, countries, islands, spas, trains, car rentals, luggage, airlines, airports, and cruises.
The DOT said results of the 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards “demonstrate the recent travel experiences of the readers and—given the travel restrictions forced by the pandemic—provide an idea of where travelers are ‘dreaming of going next’ when the world reopens for international travel.”
In July this year, made it to Time Magazine’s list of “The World’s 100 Greatest Places of 2021.” It was also named as among the top “10 islands to go on holiday this summer” on Fashion and lifestyle magazine Vogue Paris in the same month.
On the other hand, Palawan ranked fifth on the top island in Asia list by Travel + Leisure magazine and 19th on its Top 25 Islands in the World category.
Last year, Palawan was included on CNT’s list of The 30 Best Beaches in the World.
