BORACAY – Tourism arrivals in this world-famous Island continue their strong rebound. This popular destination surpassed the one million mark by end of July.
Arrivals to date stand at 1,032,143 since the island gradually welcomed more foreign and domestic visitors amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
These figures are encouraging for the tourism and hospitality sector.
A total of 201,368 tourists visited the island in May alone, data from Malay Municipal Tourism Office showed.
There were 193,650 tourists in February and 186,597 in April, while 183,096 tourists visited Boracay Iast month.
Foreign tourist arrivals recorded 35,575 from January to July, still below the pre-pandemic inbound tourism figures.
Boracay Island drew 16,730 foreigners in July, more than 45 percent of the total arrivals from January to July.
Despite the easing of restrictions, only international flights from Incheon, South Korea to Kalibo (Aklan) International Airport reopened to foreign tourists.
Meanwhile, domestic tourists keep Boracay Island’s tourism sector afloat with 977,474 arrivals in just seven months.
Out of the total tourist arrivals, 95 percent are domestic holidaymakers, though far behind from peak tourism years in Boracay Island.
Recently, this island paradise in the northern tip of Aklan province was named one of the “World’s Greatest Places of 2022” by TIME Magazine.
TIME Magazine solicited nominations from its international network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences.
It picked 50 far-flung and familiar spots which, according to TIME, are thriving, changing and growing, and charting a path to economic recovery and investing in sustainability.
Boracay Island is the only tourist destination in the country included in the list of extraordinary places to explore in 2022, with its postcard-perfect beaches that travellers always return to.
“Boracay Island has once again proven its allure as a tourist haven. Such recognition will surely help us attain our goal of regaining our position in the global market,” said Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
In April 2018, the government imposed a six-month closure of Boracay Island for a massive rehabilitation and redevelopment initiatives. It reopened in October of the same year.
A little over a year after, the coronavirus disease pandemic struck. The Philippines closed its borders, halting even domestic tourism to Boracay.
This took a severe toll on the local economy, but the silver lining was that this four square mile speck in the Visayas island chain had proper time to truly recover.
As of February 2022, international visitors could finally revel in this revamped, recuperated, natural playground after what was effectively a three-year convalescence.
Locals report the return of flora and fauna, like sea turtles, and hospitality has come back just as spectacularly, wrote Charlie Campbell of TIME./PN
