MALAY, Aklan – Halfway into the island’s six-month closure, cruise ships are already lined up for Boracay visits.
Helen Catalbas, director of the Department of Tourism in Western Visayas, said on Thursday that about five to eight cruise ships are expected to visit Boracay starting on Oct. 26 – the island’s scheduled reopening.
These cruise ships include Royal Caribbean Cruises, Star Cruises and Celebrity Cruises, among others
The luxury liners have a carrying capacity of 1,700 to 4,500 people, Catalbas added.
The region’s Tourism chief also said the cruise ship visits in Boracay will be considered in the ongoing study to determine the island’s carrying capacity.
“All these things shall be taken into consideration by the group that is doing the carrying capacity study,” Catalbas said. “We are to meet with them for interview and we are going to supply them with all the data on the cruise ships, number of rooms, tourist arrivals and number of tourism establishments on the island, everything that they need to know.”
In a meeting with Boracay stakeholders on Wednesday, a concern was raised regarding the coral reefs that may be destroyed due to the cruise ships anchorage.
Catalbas said she already consulted Department of Environment and Natural Resources regional head Jim O Sampulna over the concern.
“He (Sampulna) said that corals thrive in shallow waters, cruise ships are dropping anchor at the deeper side of the waters between Boracay and Caticlan. It’s not likely that (the) anchorage of cruise ships for a few hours could cause damage to corals,” Catalbas stressed.
Prior to Boracay’s closure, the DOT-6 has been promoting cruise tourism there.
In January, four cruise ships visited the island – bringing in some 12,927 passengers and 6,353 crew members.
In February, three cruise ships docked in Boracay with 6,246 passengers and 3,168 crew members. (With a report from PNA/PN)
