Mayor Honey Lacuna expressed her gratitude for the City of Manila being named the "World's Leading City Destination for 2023" by the prestigious World Travel Awards held at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

"This is the first time the country has won the said major award, definitely a first for the capital city," Lacuna said, as she thanked city officials and employees for having made the recognition possible.

She thanked the city's Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts headed by Charlie Dungo for working hard to promote Manila as a must-see, tourist destination.

The recognition, Lacuna said, will serve to inspire her, the DTCAM and the entire Manila local government unit to promote Manila as a destination for local and foreign tourists.

Manila beat contenders that included the United States, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, among others.

A total of four major awards were bagged by the Philippines at the World Travel Awards 2023 held in Dubai, including the Global Tourism Resilience Award for demonstrating "global leadership, pioneering vision and innovation to overcome critical challenges and adversity."

The Philippines was also named the World's Leading Dive Destination and the World's Leading Beach Destination for the second straight time.

The 30th annual World Travel Awards seeks to recognize achievements in travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

World Travel Awards supports, promotes and develops the global travel and tourism industry by identifying and rewarding excellence and inspiring practitioners to continually improve their product and service offerings.