Bulk of Boracay travelers from East Asia

BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL

International travelers from East Asia made up the bulk of foreigners in Boracay Island for the first five months this year.

                             PHOTO AKLAN FORUM JOURNAL

From January to May, the island attracted 150,876 visitors from Korea, 148,964 from China and 21,981 travelers from Taiwan or 75 percent of 430,785 foreigners. 

Data from Malay Municipal Tourism Office showed the number of Filipino travelers to Boracay also reached 493,159, up by 21 percent from 408,612 local tourists last year. 

Overall, tourist arrivals have gone up to 12 percent to 947,343 from 842,330 for the same period last year.  

Last month, 23,912 Chinese visitors visited Boracay followed by Koreans with 23,645 arrivals. There were 4,131 tourists from Taiwan during the same period.

Of the figures also in May this year, local tourists accounted for 132,698 or 65 percent of 202,755 arrivals.

Visitors from East Asia composed of China, Japan, Hongkong, Taiwan and Korea topped the foreign arrivals with 52,823 or 79 percent of 66,643 last month. 

South East Asia, the second-largest market of Boracay, comprised of visitors from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and Myanmar posted 3,442 arrivals. 

North America contributed 2,327 arrivals while tourists from Northern Europe composed of Norway, Ireland, Finland, United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden registered 2,113. 

Western Europeans from Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, France and Luxembourg rounded up the top five regional groupings with 1,396 arrivals. 

The article was originally published by independent online blog Aklan Forum Journal. The unrestricted use in print or radio, publication and distribution of articles are allowed provided the original author and Aklan Forum Journal are credited.