Boracay tourist arrivals slightly dip in 2024 聽
CROWDED While data show a slight decline in tourist arrivals on Boracay Island, at least 1.7 million still visited the island from January to October this year, with huge crowds flocking to its beach area, shown here on Oct. 27, to enjoy the island known for its powdery white sand beaches. —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE MALAY-BORACAY TOURISM OFFICE
ILOILO CITY — Tourist arrivals on Boracay Island in Malay town, Aklan have decreased in 2024 compared to 2023.
Data from the local government’s tourism office showed that Boracay welcomed 2,077,977 tourists in 2024, around 42,442 or two percent lower than the 2,120,419 arrivals in 2023.
Both foreign (412,803) and domestic arrivals (1.641 million) as well as those of overseas Filipinos (24,096) declined compared to 2023 data when the island welcomed 422,201 foreign tourists, 1.659 million domestic arrivals, and 39,196 overseas Filipinos.
The most notable decline came from the regions of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), East Asia, and the Middle East.
A nine-percent decline from 254,369 in 2023 to 232,337 in 2024 was felt from the East Asian visitors.
Article continues after this advertisementSouth Korea remains the island’s biggest foreign market but saw a decline of 17.5 percent.
Article continues after this advertisementArrivals from Hong Kong also decreased by 50.46 percent.
But there was also an increase in visitors within the East Asian region, including China, where there was an increase of 12 percent; Japan (16.96 percent); and Taiwan (22.94 percent).
The ASEAN region saw a total decline of 20 percent or from 11,571 in 2023 to 9,217 in 2024.
There was also a slight decrease in visitors from the Middle East by 691 visitors or 12 percent from 5,838 in 2023 to 5,147 in 2024.
Several regions, however, saw an increase in tourist arrivals, including from South Asia, North and South America, and Europe.
Arrivals from South Asia increased by 6.44 percent, North America (10.11 percent), and South America (24.18 percent).
From Europe, the top ten markets for 2024 included Russia (14,669), the United Kingdom (13,209), Germany (9,188), Ireland (5,380), France (5,649), Italy (4,781), The Netherlands (2,686), Switzerland (2,736), Poland (2,878), and Sweden (2,303).
The Inquirer tried to get a statement from Mayor Frolibar Bautista of Malay town, Aklan, but he has not yet replied.
Based on the same data released by the local government’s tourism office, most of the visitors were people aged between 13 to 59 years old (1,840,678 or 88.56 percent), compared to those aged 0 to 12 years old (133,668 or 6.43 percent) and those aged 60 years and above (103,631 or 4.98 percent).
Air travel remains the most popular transportation mode, comprising 1,755,578 or 84.47 percent of total arrivals, compared to arrivals by land transport (299,737 or 14.42 percent) and sea transport (22,662 or 1.09 percent).
Boracay is accessible through the nearby Godofredo P. Ramos Airport at Barangay Caticlan in mainland Panay with flights to and from Manila, Cebu, Clark, Davao, El Nido, and Taipei.
Several international carriers also serve the island through the Kalibo Airport in Aklan’s capital town, which serves flights to and from Manila and Seoul-Incheon.
Land transport is available from other parts of Panay, including within Aklan and the neighboring provinces of Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo.
Sea transport is serviced by the Caticlan Jetty Port, which also hosts travel from other ports in the country, including from Batangas City, Roxas in Oriental Mindoro, and San Jose in Romblon, among others.
The Malay town government hoped for an increase in tourist arrivals this year as 17 cruise ships are set to drop by Boracay in 2025, an increase from the nine visits in 2024.
