Boracay logs lower tourist arrivals during Holy Week

MANILA, Philippines — More than 13,000 tourists arrived on Thursday on Boracay Island in Malay, Aklan, which was lower compared to the P16,000 arrivals recorded on the same day last year, according to the municipal government.

Local officials said the extreme heat could be the reason why fewer people spent the Holy Week in Boracay this year.

Mayor Floribar Bautista said more than 7,000 visitors arrived on the island the following day.

He said the figure surpassed the local government’s expectation as it recorded only 5,000 arrivals during the same day in 2023.

Bautista said most visitors appeared to be locals or residents of neighboring provinces.

The island did not exceed its maximum carrying capacity of more than 25,000 visitors.

“We had around more than 24,000 visitors, which was still within the allowable threshold,” Bautista said.   

On Tuesday, Boracay received more than 6,000 tourists.

Tourism officials expected the influx of Holy Week visitors on Thursday.

Bautista said the extreme heat brought by the El Niño phenomenon could be among the factors for the low tourist arrivals.

“Others might have opted to travel to cool areas or preferred destinations nearer to them, so they don’t need to spend too much time traveling,” he said.

The high heat index is not good, especially for the elderly, he added.

He noted that most Boracay tourists preferred to stroll early in the morning or during sunset to avoid the heat of the sun.