Boracay registered two million tourists anew

BORACAY Island’s visitor traffic this year fell short of the target, thanks but no thanks to the ongoing tension between the Philippines and China over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Malay Mayor Frolibar Bautista told Manila Standard in a phone interview that the targeted two-million visitors might still be hit, albeit a bit delayed.

Bautista attributed the shortfall to the country’s strained bilateral relations with China arising from the territorial dispute over the WPS.

In previous years, the Chinese topped tourist arrivals in Boracay,

However, tourist traffic to the famous resort island this year was logged at only two million, somewhat short of the 2.3- million target, Bautista disclosed.

In 2023, the two-million visitor volume was reached as early as December 19.

Of the current tourist arrivals, 1,592,355 were domestic tourists; 397, 867 were foreign, and 22, 806 were Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW’s). Many of the foreign tourists were South Koreans, Taiwanese and Europeans.

“We may contend with the 2.1 million tourists this year for Boracay,” Bautista said.

In 2023, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 Boracay registered some 2.15 million foreign and local tourists.

Niven Maquirang,  the Jetty Port Special Operations Manager said a cruise ship is still expected to arrive in Boracay on  Dec. 28, bringing in an estimated 2,000 passengers.