Town council welcomes American writer's 'disapproval' on Boracay

The local council of Malay has welcomed the criticism of an American journalist questioning the award it received recently as travelers choice award.

Catherine Hamm, deputy travel editor of the Los Angeles Times Travel Section in her article dubbed as "Trouble in Party Paradise: Boracay Island in the Philippines," cited that Boracay does not deserve to receive such an award because it is overcrowded and over developed.

In an interview Wednesday, Malay Councilor Rowen Aguirre said that he had already rendered a privilege speech over Hamm's criticism and call upon the local government of Malay to further improve the island.

"In my own opinion, the article written by Hamm is a wake-up call for the local government to continue improving the resort island as a premier tourism destination. The local government must listen to the points undertaken by Hamm on the said article," said Aguirre.

Hamm claimed she visited this resort island last year and is privy to the environmental concerns surrounding this island resort.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DoT) had announced that 14 print and broadcast journalists coming from South Korea are expected to arrive this week.

Tim Ticar of the DoT-Boracay said that although South Koreans remain to be the number one foreign tourists coming to Boracay, there still needs to promote this resort island in eastern China.

Aside from Boracay, the Korean media will also be visiting other tourism destinations such as Subic, Cebu, Davao, Metro Manila and Palawan.

"The DoT figured out that there's still a lot of potentials for South Koreans to continue visiting as tourists to the Philippines specially Boracay," Ticar said.