VISITING cruise passengers to Boracay Island shall be asked to prebook their activities, such as water sports, island tours and dining, a condition by the government task force overseeing the popular tourist destination.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, Environment Undersecretary Sherwin S. Rigor said, “we’re still finalizing the guidelines for the arrival of cruise ships. We just need to put in place environmental guidelines and tourist distribution activities.”
He said the guidelines for the arrival of cruise ships are currently being finalized and will be presented at the Cabinet-level meeting of the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force (BIATF) this week. Earlier, the task force had discussed prohibiting cruise ships from docking on the island—acclaimed as one of the best beaches in the world by international travel publications—as a way to protect its environment and keep to the carrying capacity limits it imposed.
Stakeholders on Boracay have consistently opposed the arrival of cruise ships as the passengers do not contribute to the local economy. Most of them just go swimming in the beach but hardly make any purchases like tours or eat at the local restaurants.
Nenette Aguirre Graf, president of the Boracay Foundation Inc., said, “We have not changed our stand on cruise ships [i.e., opposing their arrival]. But we cannot do anything if that is the direction of the Department of Tourism [DOT] and province for now,” she said in Filipino. She added, “but [the] DENR and DOT should let us know what’s the direction now with all the restrictions.”
For his part, Rigor said a number of stakeholders they consulted already support the cruise ship arrivals, “because there are vouchers now and activities that passengers need to book, not only swimming, so there will now be inclusive growth.”
Asked if this will be easy or practical to implement, he stressed, “if there is no inclusive growth, no cruise will be allowed. [The cruise] agent must work hard for these [inclusions], if not, the cruise won’t be allowed.” He said bookings will “benefit our vendors, water sports operators, and local shops.”
According to Boracay Tourist Disembarkation Plan drawn up by the DENR, a copy of which was shared to this paper:
- All activities shall be prebooked before disembarkation at least one (1) day before for safety compliance preparation.
- Schedules and Tour Packages shall be arranged by tour operators or tourist terminals to only accredited shore excursion operators for insurance purposes.
- All Government Regulatory Fees shall be paid upon prebooking based on passenger manifest.
- Docking Fees for boats and Passenger Pontoon Fees shall be paid upon booking based on passenger manifest.
- Disembark and Embark only at designated pontoon terminal.
- Water Sports shall only launch at designated pontoon terminal.
Rigor said it will still be discussed if the cruise ships could be limited to just 100 to 150 passengers, which are usually expedition or luxury ships.
The disembarkation plan for 500 to 3,500 cruise passengers also outlines the various activities cruise passengers can enjoy on Boracay, in designated locations, number of hours spent there, and the available capacity.
For instance, a tour of Carabao island is expected to take two hours, and can accommodate 100 to 200 persons at any given time, between 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Water sports activities, are seen taking two to three hours, with the venues at the main beach, Bulabog Beach and designated island stops. The available capacity for these activities are anywhere from 500 to 1,500 persons, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
At present, the water sports allowed by the BIATF are: paraw sailing, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, kite surfing, snorkeling underwater sand walking/aquanaut diving, diving, parasailing, water ski, fly fish or banana boat rides, jetskiing, sunset boat rides, and island hopping.
About 30 cruise ships are expected to call on Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay, next year. Earlier, DOT Region 6 said about five to eight cruise ships were expected to visit the island as it reopened on October 26. Most of these ships carry 1,700 to 4,500 passengers, the region said in a news statement.