Boracay Island’s famed white sand beach (JACK JARILLA / file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Tourism (DOT) on Monday announced the return of chartered flights to Kalibo International Airport in Aklan, gateway to world-renowned Boracay Island.
“We are very happy to welcome the resumption of chartered flights from China into Kalibo. This only manifests the fact that Boracay remains a popular destination for Chinese tourists,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco in a statement.
“Together with the local government and our very active private stakeholders, we shall aggressively pursue the promotion of sustainable and responsible tourism in Boracay so that more will come to enjoy its beauty in the long run,“ she added.
According to DOT, it was on April 18 when Boracay welcomed a total of 180 Chinese tourists aboard a chartered OK Airlines flight from Changsha, China to Kalibo, Aklan — marking the first chartered flight from China since the island reopened for international travel on January 8.
The DOT said China was Boracay’s top source of foreign tourists in 2019 (434,175)
Frasco also said that all Philippine Foreign Service Posts (PFSPS) China have resumed the processing and issuance of Philippine visas to Chinese tour groups since April 11.
“The DOT looks forward to equaling, if not surpassing, the number of Chinese visitors we received before the pandemic. We thank our partner agencies, especially the Department of Foreign Affairs, for heeding our appeal to resume the processing and issuance of Philippine visas to Chinese tour groups, shortly after we manifested the necessity of regaining China as our largest source of inbound travelers,” said Frasco.
”We look forward to other interventions such as the implementation of an electronic visa system to facilitate the ease of entry into the country of our tourists,” she added.