Boracay Island on track to reach 1.5 M tourists

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

With four months to go, the Boracay Island is on track to attract 1.5 million tourists this year.

From January 1 to August 21, tourist arrivals registered 1,033,335 as compared to 987,253 from January to August last year.

Caticlan jetty port administrator Niven Maquirang said 83,371 tourists visited the resort island from August 1 to 21 this year. Domestic tourists accounted for 27,314 while the number of foreign tourists   reached 51,715. 

The biggest contributors to Boracay’s tourist arrivals were China, Korea and Taiwan. The strong growth was backed by affordable chartered flights and new routes in the Asian regions to Kalibo International Airport. 

Travellers numbered 3,000 to 4,000 daily continued to flock Boracay Island, Maquirang added.

Tourist arrivals have remained strong last year with 1,363,601, of which 615,508 were international visitors and domestic tourists, 748,093.

Data from Department of Tourism (DoT) showed the month of December had 111,949 tourist arrivals; October, 100,968; November 77,027 and September, 86,404 last year.

Boracay is also an emerging cruise destination in Asia. Thousands of passengers aboard the luxurious ships explored the natural beauty of Boracay this year.

Maquirang said two international cruise ships on November 6 and December 30 this year will make port calls in Boracay Island. 

Next year, he also listed 12 to 15 foreign cruise ships will visit the world-famous Boracay Island.