Chinese cruise ships seen to dock in Boracay

The Department of Tourism (DoT) and the Aklan provincial government are hopeful that at least two more cruise ships, this time coming from Xiamen, China, will arrive in this island-resort before year end.

Niven Maquirang, administrator of Caticlan Jetty Port, said Monday that four Chinese representatives arrived here Saturday to inspect the facilities.

"The team, together with the DOT, visited potential sites for Chinese tourists. Among these are two spas, shopping area, the long beach and the Cagban Jetty Port. If they find our facilities nice, we can expect the cruise ships to arrive in October and in November," Maquirang said.

Maquirang had earlier announced the confirmed arrival of Star Cruises vessels, Superstar Aquarius and the Superstar Gemini, later this year, with 2,000 foreign and local tourists on board.

"We are already confident of our security measures since we have already experienced the arrival of Royal cruise ships last year," he said.

The DOT's thrust of promoting Boracay as a premier cruise ship destination is part of the plan to lure 10 million foreign tourists to the country by 2016.