THE PHILIPPINES is likely to miss the target of attracting at least 7.4-million foreign tourists this 2018 as the six-month closure of Boracay capped visitor arrivals, Tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said yesterday.
The Duterte administration targets to reach 7.4 million foreign tourists this year, a goal that was threatened when the President ordered a six-month closure of the island resort for environmental cleanup and rehabilitation.
Boracay officially reopened for business on Oct. 26, with limits on the number of tourists visiting the island to 19,000 per day.
“I’m not confident it will reach 7.4 million,” Puyat told reporters during a press conference in Makati City.
The Department of Tourism is looking at 7 million to 7.2 million foreign tourists as likely more achievable for 2018.
“I’m confident it will surpass last year’s, but I’m not confident it will reach the target,” Puyat said.
In 2017, around 6.6 million foreign tourists visited the Philippines.
“Despite the fact that it is increasing, we have to admit that the closure of Boracay affected arrivals…It was a top tourist destination and it was closed for six months,” Puyat said.
Tourism undersecretary Benito Bengzon noted around 500,000 potential foreign visitors dropped their plans of visiting the island resort during Boracay’s six-month closure.
“People have to understand that while we are able to divert some of the traffic to Cebu, Bohol, and Palawan there might be some who canceled…altogether,” Bengzon said.
“People have to understand the situation when we start talking of whether or not we will achieve the target of 7.4 million,” he said. (With GMA News/PN)
