Boracay Island now Philippines’ cruise ship haven

Boracay, Philippines (Angelo Juan Ramos / Wikipedia)

BORACAY, Aklan — Boracay is now the country’s new cruise ship destination, apart from being among the world’s best beaches.

Thus, boasted by Aklan Governor Joeben Miraflores during the international conference on enhancing tourism competitiveness in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region held here Tuesday.

“We received nine cruise ships visits last year. Of the figure, four are maiden voyages from the world’s most luxurious cruise liners,” he said.

For 2015, Miraflores said 12 cruise ships have been scheduled, mostly Royal Caribbean.

“Right now, the national government has allocated a budget to develop a port in Caticlan in the mainland of Aklan to receive these cruise ships in the future,” he bared.

In the same event, the local chief executive underscored the huge contribution of Aklan to the economy due to Boracay.

“Translated into tourism receipts, visitor arrivals in 2014, as per the Department of Tourism Region 6 estimates, were able to generate PHP41 billion to the country’s economy,” Miraflores said.

Boracay Island is hosting the APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and Related Meetings and the Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT) Meeting from May 10 to 24.