DUMAGUETE CITY, Nov. 18 (PIA) -- Dumaguete City has won again the national recognition as Sports Organizer of the Year in the entire Philippines by a private group of professional organizers in the country's sports tourism industry.

The city has won this recognition for three consecutive years now.

Philippine Sports Tourism Awards is presented by SELRAHCO, Department of Tourism, Philippine Sports Commission, and PAGCOR.

The award is given to a local government unit that has contributed to the success of a sporting event or events showcasing the tourism potential of a venue, city, and town in the Philippines.

The formal awarding ceremony will be in December.

In 2017, Dumaguete was also a runner-up in the Sports Destination of the Year category, which was won by Subic Bay Freeport.

In 2018, Dumaguete City was also awarded by The Philippine Retirement Authority as the top area in their Retirement Area Deemed as Retiree-Friendly (RADAR) index, which measures a place's compliance with global lifestyle standards set by the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and International Living.

According to Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo, Dumaguete City has been a successful host to various local, regional, national, and international sports events that boosted the local economy and its profile as a sports tourism destination of choice in the Visayas.

Among the events the city hosted were Dumaguete Triathlon, Children's Games, the Dumaguete Dragon Boat Challenge, the Beach Volleyball Republic On Tour, the Philippine University Games, Little League Philippines Series, National Frisbee Ultimate Championship, Philippine National Games, Batang Pinoy, Central Visayas Regional Athletic Association, Philippine Super Liga Spike on Tour, and 1st Southeast Asian Beach Handball.

The city was set to host the Association of Southeast Asian Schools Games (ASG) this month of November but organizers had to postpone the staging of the international sporting event featuring about 3,000 of the best student athletes in the region to November 2021 due to the risks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (jct/PIA Negros Oriental with reports from CPIO Dems Demecillo)