BORACAY – Visitor arrivals in Boracay Island dropped to 1,719,849 for the first 10 months of 2024, a decrease of 4 percent from the previous year.
Last year, Boracay received 1,791,594 tourists from January to October.
Overall tourism numbers in Boracay Island are showing sluggish recovery since the pandemic and the ongoing maritime tensions in the South China Sea.
Still, the island managed to recover 98 percent of 1,742,459 tourists registered before the pandemic from January to October in 2019.
This year, Boracay witnessed a decline in domestic tourists, sharply decreasing by 3.25 percent, according to latest data of Malay Municipal Tourism Office.
Domestic tourists also registered 1,358,947, but the figure is less than the 1,404,633 tourists reported in 2023.
At the same time, the island also welcomed 341,606 foreign travelers between January to October this year, indicating a 2.88 percent decrease as compared to 351,730 tourists in 2023.
Despite the growing challenges, October alone received 25,718 foreigners, most coming from South and East Asian markets, and 118,008 domestic tourists.
Boracay is set to see a boost in cruise tourism with the arrivals of four international ships by November and December.
For this year, the tourism department targets over 2 million tourists who will travel to Boracay Island./PN
