BORACAY ISLAND (August 6, 2025) — Construction of a P2-billion cruise ship berth is set to begin in the last quarter of the year, Aklan Governor Jose Enrique Miraflores announced, as part of efforts to boost tourism on this world-renowned island.
In a chat with journalists, Gov. Miraflores said the project aims to tap into the growing cruise tourism market. Last year, Boracay welcomed 19 cruise ships, with three additional vessels forced to cancel port calls due to inclement weather and the lack of suitable docking facilities.
The new cruise port, which will be developed and operated by the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), will be capable of accommodating two ships simultaneously. According to Miraflores, Boracay is a featured stop on cruise itineraries operating out of Hong Kong, often alongside the Philippine islands of Cebu and Palawan.
Miraflores said T he PPA has already secured an initial P800 million budget for the project. He added that the provincial government of Aklan is currently looking for additional funding to complete the development, which offers potential gains for Boracay from cruise travel.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) is set to launch a P50-million, three-year study on Boracay’s wetlands and ecosystem. The goal is to assess the island’s environmental capacity and determine the types of tourism developments it can sustainably support.
While Gov. Miraflores expressed a preference for promoting wellness tourism, he emphasized that the outcome of the TIEZA study will guide future development plans for the island, famous for its powdery white sand beaches.
Tourist arrivals in Boracay, especially from overseas, have yet to fully recover following the island’s temporary closure for rehabilitation in 2018 and the travel restrictions due to COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
For 2025, the provincial government is targeting 2 million tourist arrivals—mostly domestic visitors—as part of its broader tourism recovery efforts.
