24 October 2016 – Boracay, Philippines was recently named the Best Island in the World by international travel magazine Condé Nast at the awards night at the 1 World Trade Center in New York City.
Ms. Zenn Pallugna of the Philippine Department of Tourism in New York (PDOT-NY) accepted the plaque of recognition on behalf of the country.
This year, two other Philippine island destinations landed on the coveted list of Condé Nast’s Top 20 Best Islands in the World: Palawan (#2) and Cebu (#5).
"This itty-bitty island (10-square mile) in the Western Philippines is as close to the tropical idyll as you’ll find in Southeast Asia, with gentle coastlines and transporting sunsets. Add in a thriving nightlife scene, and you have one of the top tourist spots in the region," wrote the Condé Nast Traveler.
Condé Nast further said that, “The aptly named White Beach is Boracay’s main draw, with powdery white sand and shallow azure water ideal for swimming and snorkeling.”
Ms. Pallugna said that the international recognition of the Philippines’ top three island destinations is a big boost to sustained tourism efforts aimed at encouraging more travelers to visit the Philippines to experience its unique beauty and culture.
"The prestigious destination awards we garnered this year from the readers of American travel publications, such as Conde Nast Traveler and Travel+Leisure, reinforce our destinations’ image and ignite curiosity and interest of the affluent American travelers to visit the Philippines," she added.
Some 300,000 plus travelers took part in the 29th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards Survey of Condé Nast, a premiere media company in the US renowned for producing high quality content for the world’s most influential audiences, and voted Boracay as the Top Island in the World for 2016, followed by Palawan and Cebu.
For the last 2 years, Boracay did not make it in the top 10 of the list (#12 and #13, respectively). This year, Boracay out ranked other world-famous islands such as Bali in Indonesia (#10), Tahiti in French Polynesia (15) and Santorini in Greece (#17). This is the third time, after Palawan was voted #1 in 2013 and 2015, that one of the Philippines 1,107 islands was named as the Top Island in World by Condé Nast readers.
Over 100 awardees were present during the awarding ceremony together with Condé Nast executives and travel company representatives. One of the premiere traveling promotion companies in the U.S., Condé Nast attracts over 164 million consumers across its 20 print and digital media brands, including The New Yorker, GQ, Golf Digest and Vogue. END