Foreign arrivals in Boracay Island last year surged to 868,765, up by 12.89 percent compared to 748,017 in 2015, according to Malay Municipal Tourism Office.
Koreans accounted for 37 percent of the total foreigners in the island resort with 321,016 arrivals or an increase of 9.8 percent compared to 292,174 arrivals last year.
China came in second with 273,297 tourists last year compared to 177,926 in 2015. Chinese tourist arrivals rose to a record 53.60 percent owing to strong diplomatic relations of both countries and direct regional flights from mainland China to Kalibo International Airport.
Other inbound markets in the top 10 contributing to Boracay Island’s record-arrivals were Taiwan with 55,736; Malaysia, 26,115; United States, 23,887; Australia 16,745; United Kingdom, 16,318; Saudi Arabia, 15,681; Russia, 11,593 and Singapore with 11,155 arrivals.
Domestic tourists also registered 813,302 arrivals, up by 8.7 percent compared to 748,017 in 2015.
East Asians from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and Hongkong led the regional groupings with 667,110 or 77 percent of the total foreigners in the island.
On the other hand, tourists from Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia accounted for 41,753 arrivals or 4.8 percent of foreigners in Boracay.
North Americans (Mexico, Canada and United States) also had 31,030 arrivals last year while tourists from Middle East composed of Saudi Arabia, Israel , Egypt, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Jordan had 23,089 arrivals.
Boracay Island, off the northern end of Aklan, posted 1,725,483 tourist arrivals compared to 1,560,106 in 2015.
BY BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
No comments:
Post a Comment