Tourist arrivals keep increasing
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

BORACAY – Tourist arrivals here registered a 10.18 percent increase for the first eight months this year – 399,349 tourists compared to 362,448 for the same period last year.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) said domestic tourists accounted for 290,810 or 72.82 percent of the total tourists for the period, of which 108,539 are foreigners.
Korean tourists topped 69,129 arrivals or 63.69 percent of the total foreigners visiting the island for the past eight months, followed by United States with 7,796 arrivals.
The East Asian markets composed of China, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong registered 79,514 arrivals, accounting for 73.26 percent of total foreigners.
North America composed of Canada, United States and Mexico have 9,512 arrivals, followed by Western Europe with 6,748 and Northern Europe with 6,096.
Last month, total tourist arrivals reached 33,109, of which 17,014 are foreigners and 16,095 are local tourists.
Koreans also remained as top tourists with 13,055 arrivals, followed by the United States (624), China (588), Japan (501) and Germany (273).
DOT said the island resort, the world’s best beach destination, continues to attract more tourists this year and remains optimistic of the tourism and business growth. Last year, local and foreign tourists registered 499,457 arrivals.