Aklan guv sees great opportunities with Caribbean homeport in Caticlan

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

 

Aklan governor Florencio Miraflores echoed the huge impact with the expansion plans of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in Caticlan port as a major player in the regional cruise industry. 

Peak season at Caticlan port in Malay / PHOTO AKLAN FORUM JOURNAL

RCL is willing to expand, invest and provide technical support to develop Caticlan port in Malay, Aklan as their homeport, making the northern end of Aklan as the first-ever homeport in the Visayas of a major cruise line. 

“The cruise ship company targets Chinese tourists as their primary market. The new deal for cruise ship tourism is good for business, job and opportunities for local communities in Western Visayas,” Miraflores said.

The governor stressed, “two years ago, the RCL had identified three sites – Manila, Caticlan and Palawan for their possible homeport in the country.”

“They decided to choose Caticlan because of Boracay. The province have Kalibo and Caticlan airports and also strategically located in the Philippines surrounded by islands,” he said.

RCL, an award-winning global cruise brand with a 48-year legacy, features an expansive and unmatched array of amenities only found on Royal Caribbean. It has been voted “Best Cruise Line Overall” for 14 consecutive years in the Travel Weekly Readers Choice Awards.

The governor said the 2.6 hectares reclamation area of Caticlan port passed the standards of RCL engineers for port development last February. As a homeport, a cruise terminal for domestic and international tourists will be build by RCL in Caticlan reclamation area in the last quarter of 2017. 

In Florida, Miraflores signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) together with Tourism Undersecretary for tourism development planning Benito Bengson, Jr. with RCL vice president for commercial port development John Tercek at the sidelines of Seatrade Cruise Global 2017 (formerly Cruise Shipping Miami) at the Fort Lauderdale Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale last week. 

Seatrade Cruise Global, held from March 13 to 16, is the cruise industry’s global event featuring executives from the world’s leading cruise lines and more than 10,000 registered attendees and over 700 exhibiting companies from 93 countries. 

Miraflores said the Quantum of the Seas of RCL, which has 16 passenger-assessable decks and offers premium amenities for 5,000 passengers, will homeport in Caticlan and will start its year-long deployment next year to other itineraries in Asia. 

With the move of RCL to access new Asian destinations, the Department of Tourism (DoT) and the provincial government of Aklan are negotiating for “non-exclusive agreement” with RCL to allow newer and bigger cruise ships of other companies to dock in Carribean homeport.

“Caticlan might outgrow the Manila port in terms of cruise port terminal development with the recent move of RCI,” Miraflores stressed. 

The article was originally published by independent online blog Aklan Forum Journal. The unrestricted use in print or radio, publication and distribution of articles are allowed provided the original author and Aklan Forum Journal are credited.