DOT Cordillera announces winners of Best Tourism Villages 2024; P2M cash prizes awarded

Baguio City, Philippines – The Search for the best tourism villages in the Cordillera 2024 has finally ended with the Damag, Jacmal, and Bunhian Sustainable Tourism Village in Aguinaldo proclaimed as the grand winner, receiving P1 million in cash prize.

The village, composed of three barangays, is known for its stunning landscapes, blacksmith and weaving industry as well as rich cultural traditions.

It bested 18 tourism villages across Cordillera which submitted their entries in the annual search.

As earlier announced, the regional tourism department abided by a set of criteria such as sustainable management, socio-economic sustainability, cultural sustainability, environmental sustainability, and rural economic development.

Seven judges coming from DOT, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Interior and Local Government, National Economic Development Authority, a private institution and a regional tour guide association in the region, made the selection and evaluated the entries.

The judging was done through a seven-day rigorous site validations, ocular inspections and deliberations of the tourism department of the region.

Meantime, on second place is the Shilan Community Tourism Village of La Trinidad, Benguet which brought home P500,000. Coming on third place is Tawang Tourism Village (Liyang Sanctuary Village) in Balbalan, Kalinga which received P200,000.

Runners-up were likewise recognized – the Bantay Fruit Basket Tourism Village in Tabuk City, Batad Village Heritage Site in Banaue, Ifugao and the Barlig Poblacion Tourism Village. Said villages were awarded P100,ooo in cash prizes each.

The grants will be used by these winning entries to improve the quality of tourism experiences in their villages.

This will be done through the improvement of trails and access, upgrading of existing public toilets and restrooms, beautification, installing signage, livelihood training, and other capacity-building programs.

To ensure the smooth implementation of said projects, monitoring shall be done and villages involved are required to submit reports on the utilization of said grants.

Now on its third year, the search is aimed at empowering communities in the region by actively engaging them in initiatives to boost preparedness and sustainability in their tourism practices.