Korea, China and Taiwan tourists dominate Boracay arrivals
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL


BORACAY – Tourist arrivals in the island of Boracay posted 561,405 in the first eight months of the year, data of the Municipal Tourism Office showed.
Of the total tourists, 353,299 are domestic tourists and 187,999 are foreigners. Overseas Filipino also recorded 20,107 from January to August this year.
East Asian tourists from Japan, Korea, Hongkong, China and Taiwan remained the biggest market with 135,882 arrivals or 72 percent of foreign visitors of Boracay Island followed by international travelers from North America – Mexico, Canada and United States with 12,813 or 6.80 percent of the total foreigners.
Tourists from Ireland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Denmark comprising the Northern Europe posted 10,280 arrivals while Western Europeans from Austria, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Belgium, Switzerland and Netherlands registered 9,712.
From January to August, Koreans had the highest volume among the foreign visitors with 61,702 or 32 percent of the inbound tourists followed by Taiwanese tourists with 35,011 and Chinese visitors with 29,695 owing to the regular weekly flights from Incheon and Taipei, Taiwan and mainland China to the Kalibo International Airport.
Americans tallied 9,733 followed by Hongkong tourists with 5,930 while travelers from United Kingdom had 4,454 arrivals. The island resort also received 4,196 tourists from Australia and 3,544 Japanese travelers during the first eight months.
The number of tourists from Russia reached 3,331, Germany (3,290) and Canada with 3,037 visitors in the island of Boracay.
Meanwhile, the month of April recorded an all-time mark of 101,349 tourists while the months of May to August posted 269,962 travelers.