Boracay Remains A Leading Domestic Destination in 2026

BORACAY ISLAND, AKLAN — Boracay continues to demonstrate its strong pull among Filipino travelers, maintaining its position as one of the country’s leading domestic tourism destinations amid growing competition from popular island destinations such as Palawan, Siargao and Panglao.
The Department of Tourism’s latest comparable destination figures showed Boracay attracting 118,745 visitors during the December 15–28, 2025 holiday period, the highest among the major beach and island destinations cited by the agency.
During the same holiday period, Panglao Island in Bohol recorded 62,240 visitors, while El Nido, Palawan registered 40,000, and Siargao Island drew 32,742 tourists.
The figures underscore Boracay’s continuing appeal to the domestic market, particularly during peak travel periods when Filipino families and groups traditionally seek beach destinations for their holidays.
Boracay’s strength in the domestic market was also evident in its overall tourism performance. In 2025, the island recorded 2,155,217 tourist arrivals, including 1,765,318 domestic tourists, making Filipino travelers the dominant market.
The island’s performance comes as other destinations continue to expand their tourism markets.
Palawan, for instance, recorded more than 1.08 million overnight tourist arrivals during the first half of 2026, although foreign travelers accounted for 54.2 percent of the total, compared with 45.8 percent domestic visitors.
Boracay, meanwhile, remains particularly dependent on and strongly supported by domestic travelers. In March 2026 alone, the island recorded 164,922 domestic tourists out of 200,165 total arrivals, or more than 82 percent of its visitors for the month.
The figures suggest that despite increasing competition from Palawan, Siargao, Panglao and other emerging Philippine destinations, Boracay continues to hold a strong position in the domestic tourism market, especially during major holiday and travel periods.
For tourism stakeholders in Malay and Aklan, the challenge now is to sustain that advantage by improving visitor experience, accessibility, affordability and tourism services while protecting the island’s environmental sustainability.
With domestic travelers continuing to account for a substantial share of Boracay’s visitors, the Philippine market remains a key pillar of the island’s tourism industry in 2026.
Suggested stronger headline: boracay keeps its edge in domestic tourism amid rising island competition
If you want, I can also make this into a data-driven TV news script, with a comparison table of Boracay vs. Palawan vs. Siargao vs. Panglao.