By Tara Yap
ILOILO CITY—Another direct flight from mainland China has been launched to cater to Chinese tourists bound for Boracay Island in Aklan.
Since its October 26 reopening, tourists are gradually coming back to Boracay Island. The government assures that policies will be improved to sustain the work to save the popular resort island from further environmental degradation. (Tara Yap/MANILA BULLETIN)
Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) launched Wednesday its inaugural flight from Kunming, a city in southwest China, to Kalibo International Airport.
Helen Catalbas, Western Visayas regional director of the Department of Tourism (DOT), said the Kunming-Kalibo route increases the accessibility of the country’s most popular beach destination to the Chinese, who are second only to South Koreans in terms of foreign tourist arrivals.
DOT’s attaché in Shanghai also facilitated flights to Kalibo by OK Airways from the cities of Changsha and Nanning. The flights were launched last December, which was more than a month after Boracay reopened to tourists.
The direct flights are also designed to back DOT’s national target of enticing 1.5 million Chinese tourists to the country.