The town of Naval, Biliran is eyeing the inclusion of its picturesque Higatangan Island in the 2027\u20132028 cruise season of Compagnie du Ponant, a renowned French luxury cruise line, following a site assessment conducted this week.<\/p>\n
The assessment, undertaken in preparation for next year\u2019s cruise season, was led by Sylvianne De Tracy, director of cruise research and development of Compagnie du Ponant, together with Errol James Chicano, commercial development manager of Intercruises, and Vhino Alegarbes of Travel People Ltd. Representatives from the Department of Tourism\u2019s regional and provincial offices also joined the visit.<\/p>\n
During the visit, the team toured various parts of the island to evaluate its readiness as a cruise destination.<\/p>\n
The assessment highlighted Higatangan Island\u2019s pristine natural environment, scenic coastal landscapes, and rich cultural offerings, allowing the delegation to experience firsthand the island\u2019s unique and authentic character.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe visit represents a major step toward positioning Higatangan Island on the international cruise tourism map. If included in Compagnie du Ponant\u2019s itinerary, the island is expected to gain increased global exposure and benefit from new tourism opportunities,\u201d the Naval local government said in a press statement on Friday.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 12, 2025, Australian cruise ship MV Coral Geographer returned to Higatangan Island with 80 guests for a memorable cultural immersion experience.<\/p>\n
Local stakeholders expressed optimism that the potential inclusion of Higatangan in the next cruise season would help boost sustainable tourism while preserving the island\u2019s natural and cultural heritage.<\/p>\n
Higatangan Island, located in the capital town of Naval, has two villages \u2013 Mabini and Libertad \u2013 with a population of about 2,000.<\/p>\n
It is known for its shifting sandbar, the \u201cCapilla del Mar\u201d underwater chapel, cliff-diving sites, and areas suitable for scuba diving. (PNA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Officials expect the initiative to generate jobs and local income.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":262295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262294","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-travel"],"zyndk8_nxtgen_metadata":{"nxtgen_comments":[{"7478":"cliff diving exciting \ud83d\udcaa\r","7479":"diVing spOts cleAn \ud83d\udc20\r","7480":"locals stay empowered \ud83d\udc99\r"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=262294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/262295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=262294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=262294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uptownmanila.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=262294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}