KALIBO, Aklan – Foreigners from East Asia dominated the number of inbound travelers in the world-famous island for the first quarter this year.
China and Korea emerged as the top two sources of market, recording an 80 percent total of international tourist arrivals from Jan. to March.
Chinese tourists had become the biggest inbound visitors in Boracay with 149,019 arrivals due to improved ties and increased air connectivity between China and Philippines, according to Malay Municipal Tourism Office (MMTO).
They were followed by Koreans with 97,797 arrivals; Americans with 8,268 and Russians, 4,974.
Tourist arrivals in March, however, dropped by 3 percent or 172,207 compared to 177,081 arrivals compared to same period in 2018.
Boracay Island managed to accommodate 512,516 tourists for the first three months, down by 7 percent compared to 553,074 arrivals for the same period last year.
The tourism performance is attributed to ‘visitor-cap’ introduced by the national government to tackle tourist-induced congestion and environmental issues in the island.
Around 50,000 tourists are expected to visit Boracay Island for the forthcoming Holy Week celebration.
MMTO Tourism Operations chief Felix Delos Santos Jr. said tourist arrivals are likely to hit 50,917 from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday on April. (With a report from Akean Forum/PN)
