Aklan govt is determined to secure tourists - MarquezBY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
Gobernador it Aklan, nagtukod it crisis management team / Bombo Radyo
http://www.bomboradyo.com/index.php/news/regional-news/akeanon/16944-gobernador-it-aklan-nagtukod-it-crisis-management-team
KALIBO, Aklan – The number of tourists has kept on increasing in the province of Aklan and the island of Boracay before the hostage taking tragedy, according to Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez.
From August 1 to 24, the tourist arrivals in the island registered at 46,917, of which 22,000 were foreigners, compared to 45,290 tourists of August last year.
Marquez said the tourist arrivals reached 550,000 from January to August this year, 181,000 were foreigners, as compared to 469,783 tourists last year.
The provincial government also collected P5.219 million terminal fees in two major jetty ports in Aklan - Cagban and Caticlan in Malay, Aklan, or an increase of collections of P796,000 from the P4.479 million collections last year for the month of August.
From January 1 to August 23, the province collected P79-million terminal fees or P18.932-million higher than the collections last year or an increase of 31 percent. Marquez said the province also welcomed Hollywood actor Michael Madsen during his visit in the island of Boracay last week.
KALIBO, Aklan – The number of tourists has kept on increasing in the province of Aklan and the island of Boracay before the hostage taking tragedy, according to Aklan Governor Carlito Marquez.
From August 1 to 24, the tourist arrivals in the island registered at 46,917, of which 22,000 were foreigners, compared to 45,290 tourists of August last year.
Marquez said the tourist arrivals reached 550,000 from January to August this year, 181,000 were foreigners, as compared to 469,783 tourists last year.
The provincial government also collected P5.219 million terminal fees in two major jetty ports in Aklan - Cagban and Caticlan in Malay, Aklan, or an increase of collections of P796,000 from the P4.479 million collections last year for the month of August.
From January 1 to August 23, the province collected P79-million terminal fees or P18.932-million higher than the collections last year or an increase of 31 percent. Marquez said the province also welcomed Hollywood actor Michael Madsen during his visit in the island of Boracay last week.
Meanwhile, the impact of the hostage taking last August 23 was made worse by travel advisories issued by the Hong Kong government and some countries in Asia. With respect to tourism, the inbound tourists to Boracay Island is beginning to decline, although, this is concentrated within the period after the Manila hostage taking.
Last week, Marquez called an emergency meeting with local officials of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard, Sangguniang Panlalawigan members, Philippine National Red Cross, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Aklan media for the creation of technical working group of the crisis management team.
The meeting was also attended by Vice Governor Gabriele Calizo-Quimpo and Aklan Provincial Tourism Council co-chairman Vicky Ramos-Antonino.
“The province is determined to ensure the safety and security of tourists, in particular in our airports, tourist buses and highways with our intensified police visibility. We were saddened by the tragic hostage taking in Manila last August 23 and also alarmed by the big impact in our economy, especially in the tourism industry of Boracay Island,” the governor reacting to the eight Chinese tourists killed by a dismissed cop.
my own two cents worth! in Chinese, crisis and opportunity means the same, hence how about working on an idea of having a direct flight too between HK and Kalibo/Boracay destination? for sure the HongKongers will like the idea because it bypasses Manila being paranoid to them over the recent gruesome debacle. and this is opportunity we should not miss! btw that time HOngKongers have this habit of buying a gallon of Magnolia Ice Cream every time they board their flight back to HK notwithstanding it is available there! my point is this guys will surely buy our famous sweet mangoes when they go back to HK of course at the Kalibo Intl Airport once there is a direct flight! and of course other native products too that fancies their curiosity! and this will surely benefit our native products industry! just think about it and do something about it too! Cheers!
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