MANILA, Philippines — Tourists from Luzon, continue to keep the local tourism of Boracay afloat as the month of June nears an end.
Based on the visitor arrival data from the Municipal Tourism Office of Malay, there are a total of 23,599 tourists who visited the world-famous island from June 1 to 27. Of which, 15,075 are from the National Capital Region
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The top Boracay visitors are followed by tourists from Calabarzon and Central Luzon with 5,170 and 1,736 arrivals, respectively.
The island reopened to NCR Plus tourists this month.
The high number of tourist arrivals has beaten the March 2021 pandemic record-high number of visitors of 17,400.
OIC Regional Director of DOT Region VI, Tin Mansinares, welcomed this development.
“The reopening of Boracay to NCR-plus brought positive impacts to its local tourism economy,” Mansinares told Philstar.com in a text message.
“As of June 27, the island welcomed 23,599 tourists. Of the total number, 20,625 or 87% came from NCR-plus. Open accommodation establishments reached 273 as of June 24, 2021,” she added.
The island suffered during the reimposition of strict modified enhanced community quarantine over NCR Plus last March when there are only below 2,000 arrivals.
As part of the island’s recovery plan, Mansinares said the DOT Region VI office would be launching three products in collaboration with the Municipality of Malay this year.
“One is the Wellness Workation Program that will offer the island as a new ‘office space’ and a wellness retreat destination at the same time. It will induce longer tourist stay and promote sustainable activities on the island,” Mansinares said.
“We will also have the Boracay Biking Tour Program that will showcase the scenic terrain of the island. Lastly, the Food Crawl Program that will showcase both the iconic food of Boracay and the international cuisines that are available on the island,” she added.
Several office workers from NCR late last year and early this year visit Boracay to go on "workation".
In view of this new shift in demand, some accommodation establishments in Boracay are now offering long-term stays for those who want to work away from their homes.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat supports this move saying it helps boost tourism.
“Because with zoom or other similar apps, people can work from anyway as long as there is an internet connection. It helps support the tourism industry too,” Puyat told Philstar.com last March.
The island is requiring RT-PCR negative result certificate (saliva, nasopharengeal or oropharengeal) with date of extraction within 72 hours to the date of travel for those who wish to visit Boracay.