Boracay now ready for foreign tourists, says Aklan governor

World-famous Boracay Island resort is now ready to open its doors to foreign tourists, according to Governor Florencio Miraflores of Aklan.

A report on "Unang Balita" on Thursday quoted Miraflores as saying that all tourist facilities in the resort are ready to accept and accommodate foreign visitors as the island has been serving local tourists since last October.

Likewise, the governor said quarantine facilities are ready, in case some visitors  would catch coronavirus while on the island.

But he pointed out that since Boracay was opened to local tourists last October, it has not recorded cases of COVID transmission in the resort.

However, Miraflores said the new coronavirus UK variant, and delays in the delivery of expected vaccines against COVID-19 could possibly dampen the reopening of the island resort to foreign visitors.

Citing data from the Malay Tourism Office, Miraflores said that in December, Boracay had served some 15,000 local tourists, and last January, it recorded nearly 12,000.

Meanwhile, Aklan's capital Kalibo is planning to set a record of being the first to roll out its vaccination program against COVID-19 among local government units in the province.

Local vaccine czar Rey Villaruel was quoted in a press conference as saying that the municipality has been in talks with vaccine manufacturers sine January this year.  —with a report from Jun Aguirre/LBG, GMA News