BORACAY – Tourist arrivals here are picking up.
Malay, Aklan chief tourism operations officer Felix Delos Santos Jr. said they recorded 20,058 arrivals through Caticlan as the port of entry from June 1 to June 24.
Tourists from the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal) boosted the figures, he said.
Last month, the island only had 1,737 guests.
“Hopefully it would be sustained,” said Delos Santos.
Data from the Malay Tourism Office showed 12,761 of the overall tourist arrivals came from the NCR. Others were from Cavite (1,363), Laguna (1,015), Bulacan (759), Pampanga (382), and Nueva Ecija (163).
The rest of the tourists came from Mindanao and other parts of Luzon and Visayas.
Of the total arrivals, 17,750 were from the 13-59 age group while 1,897 belonged to the 0-12 age group.
Those 60 years old and above tourists accounted for 411 tourists.
There were 10,084 females and 9,974 were males.
Delos Santos said there were no new protocols when entering the island and they still require the negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 72 hours before travel, confirmed booking with a hotel accredited by the Department of Tourism (DOT), itinerary or flight details, identification card, QR code and registration with the S-PaSS (Safe, Swift and Smart Passage) System.
“We are stringent in implementing health and safety protocol,” he said.
Except for the 11 persons who tried to enter the island with fake documents since Boracay reopened to visitors from the NCR Plus early this month, they have not recorded new violators so far, revealed Delos Santos.
The national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has allowed the movement of persons traveling in and out of NCR Plus from June 1 to 15 and was extended up to June 30. (PNA)
