Visitor arrivals expected to reach 1M in Boracay by next year

With the upward trend in visitor arrivals and tourism receipts in Boracay, Aklan Governor Carlito S. Marquez expressed optimism that the goal of the province to attract one million tourists to the resort island would be attained by 2012.

"This would be a year earlier than the original target of breaching the one-million mark in tourist arrivals by 2013," he said.

As of last year, a report by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) showed that foreign and domestic arrivals in Boracay have reached 779,666, or nearly 200% more than the 264,807 arrivals in 2001.

Tourism receipts, or revenues from spending of tourists, have also been on the upswing in the past 10 years and reached P14.332 billion last year from P4.868 billion in 2001, the report added.
In terms of tourist population, Boracay is largely dominated by domestic tourists. Of the 779,666 arrivals last year, 60.81% were domestic tourists, 35.72% were foreigners while overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) comprised the remaining 3.47%.

On the average, the report showed that 2,136 visitors everyday or 64,972 visitors monthly come to Boracay to cover their feet with the powdery-white sand and plunge into crystal clear waters.
Even OFWs include Boracay in their list of places to visit when they come home to the Philippines, either for leisure or shopping for investment.

The report showed OFW arrivals in Boracay last year increased by 10.7% to 27,038 from 24,415 in 2009.

In 2010, majority of Boracay visitors were Koreans (40%) followed by Taiwanese (22%) and Chinese (16%). Other foreign nationals who made Boracay their place of leisure last year hailed from the US (6%); the UK, Australia and Hong Kong (3% each); and Japan, Germany and Canada (2% each).

The NSCB also noticed that various tourist groups have their own preferred periods when visiting Boracay.

In 2010, the influx of domestic visitors was high in the months of April at 78,400 (16.5%). May saw 64,390 visitors (13.5%), March had 51,341 visitors (10.8%) and June had 42,910 tourists (9.1%).
Overseas Filipinos, however, flock to the resort island in December and January. OFW arrivals in the island totaled 3,569 (13.2%) in December and 3,469 (12.8%) in January which is "Ati-atihan" month in Aklan. -- F. A. L. Angelo