The Department of Tourism assured the public it was strictly implementing the embargo on cruise vessels in Boracay Island to control the daily carrying capacity of the island amid an expected surge in tourist arrivals.
This came after photos and videos of cruise ships docking in Boracay surfaced on social media. The Tourism department said those materials were old and merely “presented as a new incident." It added there had been "no entry of cruise ships to Boracay Island since the start of the closeout dates.”
The closeout dates for cruise vessels for the Lenten season and summer break began last April 16, with daily capacity set to 19,215, including a total of 6,405 tourist arrivals per day. The other closeout dates for cruise ships were set in 2019 on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day; for the Southeast Asian Games and the Christmas Season.
Closeout dates will start from October 26 through November 8 and from November 23 through January 5, 2020.