BORACAY – Boracay Island is in survival mode even though the number of visitors, somehow, is within the pre-pandemic levels.
Tourism in Boracay Island took a heavy blow from pandemic restrictions and lockdowns. The inbound markets stopped when the country banned the entry of foreign tourists in early 2020 due to the pandemic.
In 2020 tourist arrivals heavily plunged to 84 percent and almost P400 billion from inbound tourism were lost amid the Covid-19 pandemic, a report of the Department of Tourism said.
Tourism on the island is also heavily dependent on travelers from overseas, in particular from Asia. Mainland China, Taiwan, and South Korea are the largest inbound markets of Boracay Island.
After nearly two years, the island cautiously reopened its doors to vaccinated foreign tourists on February 12 without quarantines in a bid to revive the tourism industry.
Although domestic tourists have somewhat kept the travel and hospitality alive, their local spending in Boracay Island hasnāt compensated for the decline in tourism revenues generated from foreign tourists.
In February, 434 foreign tourists entered Boracay Island, while 445 foreign travelers stayed on the island from March 1 to 9.
Boracay Island is also hitting the pre-pandemic mark with average daily arrival of 4,000 to 6,000 tourists. As of March 9, there were 40,375 domestic tourists had visited the island, according to Malay Municipal Tourism Office./PN
