Chinoys bullish in investing in Philippines

Filipino-Chinese (Chinoy's) are still bullish in investing in the Philippines despite the travel ban the Chinese government has imposed to the country.
Ryan Ang, local spokesperson of the CityMall Commercial Centers Incorporated (CMCCI), said in a press conference here Thursday that the company is investing P500 million for the new investment. It hopes to employ around 1,000 new jobseekers.
The CMCCI is being partnered by Chinoys namely Egar 'Injap' Sia of Double Dragon and Tony Tan Caktiong, founder of Jolibee Food Corporation.
"The company is actually planning to invest around 100 citymalls around the country by year 2025," said Ang.
The citymalls features environmental awareness on the mall, business center, hotel and transport terminal. It will be using 50 percent solar generated power and 30 percent rainwater .
"Already, we are accepting local businessmen to take advantage of our available stalls for the mall," said Ang who expects it to open by 2015.
He added that the incorporation has chosen Kalibo as one of their areas of operation because of the growing demand of the tourism industry brought by Boracay Island.
"We are envisioning ourselves to be one of the top four malls in the country in the years to come," Ang said.

Boracay business group now offering discounts on hotels

The Boracay Foundation Incorporated (BFI) has supported the call of the Department of Tourism-Western Visayas to provide discount rates to both foreign and local tourists.
Dionisio Salme, BFI president, said that discounts however depend on their members.
"We see the initiative of the DoT in calling for discounted rates as good," said Salme.
The DoT has called for discounted rates following the declaration by the Chinese government of a travel ban to the Philippines. The travel ban caused the cancellation of reservations for Chinese tourists coming to Boracay.
Salme said the travel ban has greatly affected large hotels as they usually lure group tours. Small hotels still enjoy the influx of mostly local tourists and other nationalities such as Koreans and Taiwanese.
The BFI is a business organization in this resort island with more than 300 members.
Aside from the discounted rates in hotels, the DoT also called for discounted rates on airplanes.

Cruise ship tourism not affected by Chinese travel ban, says jetty port exec

The arrival of cruise ships in this resort island is not affected by the travel ban imposed by the Chinese government.
Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said in fact, they are preparing for the arrival of two cruise ships on November 6 and December 30.
"Details of their arrivals are not yet in place. However, we are already preparing since the month of September is being considered an entry to the super peak season for this resort island," said Maquirang.
The Department of Tourism earlier reported that the Chinese travel ban has caused cancellations of room bookings in this resort island. The Chinese government imposed a travel ban following the isolated case of abduction of a Chinese teenager in Zamboanga.
Star Cruises has included Boracay as one of the favorite destination maps.

Coron, Boracay eye ‘sisterhood’

To boost their tourism industries, the local governments of Coron, Palawan and Malay, Aklan are eyeing a sisterhood agreement.
Mayor Clara Reyes of Coron said Mayor John Yap of Malay had agreed to discuss matters regarding the proposed agreement.
Reyes was in this resort island recently to announce the availability of a 30-minute direct flight from Coron to Godofredo P. Ramos Airport, or the Caticlan airport, and vice versa via Air Juan.
“Mayor John Yap has agreed to discuss with us their experiences and the challenges they face in developing Boracay,” said Reyes. “(For our part), we (in Coron) could help Boracay increase its European tourists.”
A total of 91,580 foreign and local tourists visited Coron last year, according to the municipality’s tourism office.
Coron is considered the second most popular tourist destination in Palawan, next to Puerto Princesa, the province’s capital city.
Malay has jurisdiction over Boracay, which targets to accommodate 1.5 million tourists by the end of the year./

Australian national, Filipino companion saved from drowning

A 51-year-old Australian national and his Filipino companion survived a near-drowning incident in this resort island Friday after a service boat where they were on board capsized.

P01 Condrito Alvarez, of the Philipine Coast Guard-Caticlan, identified the victims as Richard Allan and his female companion Jeselyn Lobo, 21, a Filipino. Three other Filipinos who are crews of the capsized boat had been rescued.

Alvarez said that based on their investigation, the incident happened around 9:10 am Friday several minutes after they boarded the Island Mariner 4 boat at Cagban Port in Malay. They were supposed to go to this resort island when the incident happened.

The said banca is a service boat of a resort here. Alvarez said inclement weather caused the boat to capsize.

Boat operators nearby rescued the victims and brought them to the PCG Office in Caticlan for investigation.

Meanwhile, Lt. Commander Jimmy Vingno, PCG head Caticlan, said that all sea sports activities including swimming at the white beach had been discouraged by their office due to inclement weather.

Boat operation also depends on the operators as long as they could survive the rough seas.

Coron town prepares for ASEAN integration

The local government unit (LGU) of Coron, Palawan is paving its way for the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) economic integration in 2015.

In an interview, Coron Mayor Clara Reyes said that she is now in talks with several investors in Japan and Malaysia.

"We also expect a boost in tourism arrivals as the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is currently upgrading the Busuanga Airport to reach international standards," she said.

Reyes is here in Boracay to announce the 30-minute direct flight from Coron to the tourist island by the Air Juan.

Coron is considered as the second most popular destination in Palawan next to Puerto Princesa with 91,580 visitors in 2013.

Reyes said she also came to Boracay to discuss a possible sisterhood agreement with the island's LGU.

More cruise ships want to dock in Boracay

 The Aklan Provincial Government welcomes the initiative of international cruise ship companies to dock in this resort island.

Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said that the United Kingdom-based Oceania Cruises has started selling tickets for its new route.

"Boracay is becoming at par with the worldwide trend on Cruise Ship Tourism. On our part, we are developing the jetty port to reach the international standard," said Maquirang.

While the Oceania Cruises has already been starting to sell tickets, the Aklan provincial government is yet to receive notification from the management.

Britanny Chrusciel, editorial assistant of the Oceania Cruise, said that Boracay has been included in their 12 new destinations around the world.

Aside from Boracay, other port destinations for winter itineraries include Jeju, South Korea; Luderitz, Namibia; Cooktown, and Australia, among others.

For the Boracay route, the Oceania Cruises will be using its Nautica vessel which will sail in both Asia and Africa for eight itineraries in 2015. These include overnight in ports like Singapore, Ha Long Bay, Tokyo, Cape Town and Namibia.

Nautica will also complete a 35-night voyage from Hong Kong to Istanbul that navigates the Suez Canal.

Chrusciel said that the lines itineraries, 27 of them, are considered brand new and now focused on longer, destination-intensive sailings with 76 percent spanning two weeks or longer.