Boracay Island remains among top PHL tourist destinations

ILOILO CITY – Boracay Island remains to be one of the top contributors to the Philippine tourist arrivals from other regions and countries.
The island resort is world-famous for its lovely palm-fringed, flour-white sand beaches, azure waters, rich coral reefs, rare sea shells, exciting water sports activities, bargain hunting and endless parties.

Atty. Helen J. Catalbas, Department of Tourism (DOT) Region 6 director, said, “As one of the country’s top tourist drawers, Boracay tourist arrivals reached 1,363,611last year, a massive 11.54-percent increase from the previous year of 1,206,252″.
The tourist arrivals represented a monthly average of 113,634 tourists.
The mentioned total could be broken down to 51.73-percent domestic visitors, 45.14-percent foreign visitors and 3.13-percent overseas Filipino visitors.
Asians visited the island most as the Top 3 countries in foreign arrivals are Korea with 208,665; China with 200,794; and Taiwan with 39,706 arrivals. USA and Russia completed the Top 5 list with 19,407 and 19,316 arrivals, respectively.
Summer season or the second quarter of the year topped the period of last year’s arrivals for tourism in the island, bringing in a total of 417,556 tourists with April contributing the most number. This was brought about by the Holy Week celebrations, school break and thebest weather condition for inland trips and sea sports.

However, in November, Typhoon “Yolanda” did not spare the Island of Boracay as an 11.77-percent decrease in arrivals was recorded for the same month. Cancellation of flights and boat trips to and from the island resulted in limited visitor mobility and access to the island.
As a result, the peak month was still April with 162,237 tourists while the month of November was the lowest with 77,027 tourists.
Last year, Boracay welcomed four international cruise ships: MS Columbus 2, MS Europa 1, MS Superstar Gemini and MS Superstar Aquarius.
“With mainland Aklan having its own tourist arrivals, the province hosts the most number of tourists in Western Visayas and with Malay, specifically Boracay Island, as major contributor. This goes to show that despite challenges faced by the island, Boracay lives up to its international recognition and awards”, the DOT regional director concluded.