SINGAPORE — The Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Philippines, the state agency tasked with marketing the country as a travel and meetings destination, has won two major honors at the Travel Daily Media (TDM) Travel Trade Excellence Awards Asia 2025, a recognition Philippine officials and industry observers say underscores the country’s growing ambitions in business events and sustainable, community-led tourism.
The awards were presented at a TDM awards dinner in Singapore held at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
A campaign built for business travel, with a “human” pitch
TPB received “Tourism Board Campaign of the Year” for its 2024 MICE push, titled “We Take Your Business to Heart.” In reporting on the win, GMA News said TPB described the campaign as the result of work stretching back to 2010, framing business events not merely as logistics and venues but as “profoundly human experiences.”
The event was positioned as a regional benchmark, honoring organizations across the tourism industry: airlines, airports, hotels, cruise lines, tour operators and travel technology — an ecosystem where MICE marketing often depends on close coordination between government and private operators.
Community tourism, marketed outward — and organized locally
The second award — “Community Initiative of the Year” — recognized TPB’s Community-Based Tourism (CBT) Marketing Enhancement Program, which Philippine sources described as a targeted effort to connect local communities with media, tourism markets and key opinion leaders in ways tailored to each destination’s needs.
In a statement cited by GMA News, Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Medardo G. Macaraig called the recognition “a proud moment,” crediting tourism workers, partners and communities, and emphasizing the country’s “warmth, talent, and hospitality.”
A broader awards night for Philippine tourism operators
The Philippine Embassy noted that other Philippines-linked winners were also recognized at the same event, including Mactan-Cebu International Airport as Airport of the Year (Asia), 2GO Travel for Cruise Ship Entertainment of the Year, and Solaire Resort Entertainment City as Casino Hotel of the Year — a sweep that officials portrayed as evidence of breadth across the travel economy, not just destination marketing.
What the accolades signal
International coverage, including Travel And Tour World, argued that the dual win strengthens the Philippines’ positioning as both a business-events destination and an advocate of responsible, inclusive tourism, tying the awards to a broader regional competition for conferences, incentive travel, and sustainability-minded visitors.
And the awards organizer itself has cast the program as a platform meant to reward innovation and service standards across Asia-Pacific travel — the kind of recognition tourism boards pursue not only for prestige, but for leverage: to persuade event planners, airlines and tour wholesalers that a destination is investing, improving and ready to host. (hb)