Philippines Hilot Wins in Asia Spa Awards

Hilot, the Philippine’s own brand of touch therapy, is earning international fame as the prestigious 2007 AsiaSpa Awards recently recognized Mandala Spa & Villas Boracay’s Hilot Trilogy as Holistic Treatment of the Year.

According to Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano, “We congratulate Mandala for bagging this award. Citations of this magnitude indicate that our health and wellness destinations and services are definitely at par with world standards. They also open to us more opportunities in developing this type of industry.”

Established in 2005, the AsiaSpa Awards continues to be one of the industry’s most esteemed recognitions in the Asia Pacific region. It aims to set the standards, highlighting innovation and quality. Resorts, companies, organizations and personalities that take home the much-coveted trophy are deemed benchmarks for this fast-growing enterprise.

The awards are organized by AsiaSpa Magazine, the most recognized luxury wellness publication reaching more than 120,000 influential urban female readers across Asia.

This year’s search included categories on treatments, locations, products, teaching programs, events and individual efforts. A panel of 28 judges, comprising of spa owners, wellness experts and authors, decided on the most outstanding treatments and most original spa destinations.

The 2007 winners were recently celebrated at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong, which was attended by 350 leaders in the spa trade.

Mandala Spa & Villas stood out prominently as the only Filipino independent business among the roster of winners dominated by Thailand-based establishments.

Mandala is one of the first luxury wellness centers in the country to offer hilot. Located in a quiet and secluded area in Boracay, Mandala is steadily rising as one of the finest Asian destination spas. The company earlier won the 2005 AsiaSpa award for Treatment of the Year.

The spa’s two-hour Hilot Trilogy session combines three traditional healing therapies widely practiced in the Philippines. The deep-tissue hilot massage relaxes over-all tension and establishes equilibrium.

The dagdagay, of Cordilleran origin, uses two bamboo or rattan sticks to stimulate the soles and cleanse the body from specific points on the feet.

The bentosa portion of the treatment involves warmed glass cups that suction out toxins and improve circulation.

Hilot is currently one of the features that the Department of Tourism aggressively promotes in the international market for health and well-being destinations. Selling missions that incorporate this form of wellness therapy have been received enthusiastically by the Japanese, Chinese and European travel groups.