Kalibo hotel association laments the decreasing number of visitors

The Kalibo Ati-Atihan Accommodation Association is lamenting the decreasing number of clients and has asked different government agencies to help them.

Gerwin Garcia, association president, said the decreasing number was attributed to the recent expansion of the Caticlan Airport in Malay, Aklan.

The town of Kalibo currently has around 1,200 rooms scattered from different hotels and inns.

“We observed a decrease  of around 70 percent of the number of clients from the previous years.  Despite the decrease, we note that the number of hotels in Kalibo is still increasing,” Garcia said.

The expansion of the Caticlan Airport in Malay has increased the number of its regular flights there, making other tourists to fly directly. For several years, the Kalibo International Airport was a major gateway to Boracay.

Although the Kalibo International Airport is currently being expanded, the expansion would still take three years.

The expanded Caticlan Airport was opened to the public during the last quarter of 2016.

“It is a good thing right now that hotels in Kalibo are picking up clients in time for the Kalibo Santo Niño Ati-Atihan Festival this January. We are worried about our fate after the Ati-Atihan revelry,” he said.

Already, several hotels reported dismissing several employees due to lack of clients.

“We have been in discussion with both the Aklan provincial government and the local government of Kalibo. We are proposing to make Kalibo an independent tourism destination, not dependent on tourists coming to Boracay,” Garcia said.

The Kalibo town has no “night life” to lure tourists to stay overnight in different hotels here.