The Department of Tourism gave Lima Park Hotel the Tourism Excellence award during the 4th CALABARZON Tourism Summit late last year.
With the theme “Working Towards Sustainable Tourism and Building Partnerships Through Appreciation and Recognition,” the Summit was the venue for recognizing the efforts of individuals and companies supporting the tourism sector. Lima Park Hotel was cited for its “valuable contribution in adherence to tourism accreditation, quality standards and services, generation of data and information on tourist arrivals, both for overnight and same-day visitors, and initiating programs aligned to the National Tourism Development Plan of the Department of Tourism.
“Further, for having manifested consistent compliance and innovation, generous support to DOT programs and activities, and continuous effort in the pursuit of excellence for tourism products and services.”
Rated by DOT as the first and only four-star hotel in the province of Batangas, Lima Park Hotel has been consistently promoting tourist arrival in the Lakeshore District of Batangas by creating tour experiences that include the Lake Taal cruises and Marian Orchard pilgrimage site in Balete. The hotel is also involved in numerous annual multi-sectoral and community activities, such as the Batangas Development Summit, the Batangas Earth, Wind, and Water Festival, Karipasan Run for Wellness, Bisikleta Iglesia, among others.
Currently, Lima Park Hotel serves as home to a big number of expatriates serving multinational companies in Batangas. It is also the leading convention hub in the province and center for social events.
DOT Region IV-A Regional Director Rebecca Villanueva-Labit said, “We have everything in the region, we have so many things to offer. The strength of this region is actually the goodness of the spirit of all our partners, the private sectors, the public sectors and the local government units.” Labit, in particular, cited Lima Park Hotel for its innovative approach to tourism that even includes community development and environment protection.
“We thank the Department of Tourism for this recognition. We are grateful for the overwhelming support of Regional Director Labit who, together with her team, has always been with us every step of the way in achieving what we have today,” Lima Park Hotel Resident Manager Edilberto P. Evangelista Jr. said. “We hope that this recognition will inspire other hotel and resort owners and operators in CALABARZON to support our government’s tourism programs by adhering to DOT’s quality standards.” Evangelista also received a plaque of recognition for his dedication to the development of tourism.
Labit revealed that DOT-Calabarzon expects an increase to the 26 million same-day tourists recorded in 2016. She remains confident that the region will be able to generate 20 percent increase for same-day arrivals, and another 20 to 25 percent increase for overnight staying visitors.
“By next year, we will have more training to improve our human resources. We will be putting our thrust to ecotourism, farm tourism, and faith tourism to strengthen emerging and developing destinations,” Labit said.