(Second of three parts)
MAYOR Antonio Calixto considers Pasay City’s image as a “sin city” as a thing of the past after city officials successfully repackaged Pasay as part of the “tourist belt” in Metro Manila.
Calixto boasted that the city has first-class entertainment, world-class shopping, premier hotels, theme parks and malls that can host international conventions and trade expositions.
Pasay has become a mecca for entertainment in the metropolis. Its major draw is the 67-hectare SM Mall of Asia complex, the largest in the country and fourth largest in the world.
Big corporations like the Philippine Airlines and the Philippine National Bank have their headquarters in Pasay’s Financial Center beside the World Trade Center.
LBC Express also has its headquarters at the Star Cruises Center in Pasay’s Newport Cyber-tourism Zone.
The satellite office of the United States Embassy and Japanese Embassy are in Pasay, as well as national government offices like the Department of Foreign Affairs, Senate of the Philippines, Government Service Insurance System, Department of Trade and Industry’s export promotions agency—the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.
Venues for concerts and exhibitions include the SMX Convention Center, Mall of Asia Arena, Cuneta Astrodome, World Trade Center Metro Manila, and the historic Cultural Center and Philippine International Convention Center.
Six- and five-star hotels and casinos flourish in the city with the construction of Newport City apart from the Sofitel Hotel, Solaire, Resorts World and Midas Hotel.
Newport City is an integrated world-class entertainment complex, host to the only six-star hotel in the country—Resorts World Manila.
Calixto said Pasay is no longer just a gateway to the Philippines but a complete all-in-one destination for local and foreign tourists.
“Pasay is undisputedly the country’s one and only Travel city, the most exciting integrated tourist destination by the bay in the 21st century,” he said.