Boracay still a good tourism potential for 2016

For Boracay tourism, the year 2016 is anticipated as a good year despite several reports that the famous island resort is facing environmental degradation.

Reports by different international and national organizations reveal that Boracay faces flooding and coliform issues.

Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores said that around ten cruise ships are expected to dock at the Boracay port, the largest of which is scheduled to arrive in January.

"There is also a lot of new tourism facilities that are being constructed. We actually expect we may experience lack of carpenters, masons and the like because of the ongoing construction boom," Miraflores said.

"For 2016, we actually expect more tourists from Kuala Lumpur," he said.

The Aklan Congressional District Office together with the Department of Public Works and Highways are currently building various tourism road access in the province. Several new high-end resorts are also expected to rise next year.

Also, currently the Asia Foundation in cooperation with the Iloilo Business Club is in partnership with the Aklan Provincial Government and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Aklan. They will hold a series of conferences aimed to determine new high-impact road networks for the province.

From January to December 20 this year, Boracay tourist arrivals reached 1,500,070, according to the reports of the Caticlan Jetty Port.

The figure is currently much higher compared to the 2014 tourists arrivals report which is 1,472,352.

For her part, Aklan Vice Gov. Gabrielle Calizo-Quimpo said that Boracay, despite its problems, is still a huge tourism potential and that the Aklan provincial government is bent on pushing for environmental conservation programs.