BORACAY Island will remain open even during the monsoon season.
This was the clarification made by Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat in reaction to published reports that the island, famous the world over for its creamy white-sand beach, will be closed for routine maintenance in June. “No not at all,” she told the BusinessMirror. “It was discussed before that we might close for habagat [monsoon season], but it was never brought up again. Plus the waters are all below 100 [most probable number per 1,000 milliliter], so there’s no need to close it,” she asserted.
The clarification was prompted by exchanges in the Boracay Beach Community group page on Facebook, in which would-be tourists have been asking if it was true the island would be closed in June.
The talk was prompted by a published report quoting environment officials that the island would be cleaned up in June, but that there was a pending decision on whether to close the entire island, or just certain areas. “We can also divide it by section and close each section for a week,” said Environment Undersecretary for Attached Agencies Sherwin Rigor was quoted during a media briefing. He added, the cleanup “is our evidence that we continue cleaning Boracay.”
A few tour operators also confirmed receiving inquiries from their clients if they could still visit Boracay in June, as there was talk about the island’s closure by then.
According to an initial study by the National Economic and Development Authority obtained by this paper, the medium- to long-term vision for Boracay Island is for it be “a secure and globally competitive world-class tourism destination with a vibrant, productive, and climate-resilient economy that is geared toward inclusive growth and anchored on the sustainable development of its innate natural resources.”
The resort island was closed for six months in 2018 to give way to government’s rehabilitation efforts, primarily to control environmental pollution, implementing a 30-meter easement on the main white beach, reclaiming wetlands, and constructing vital infrastructure.
As per the Neda study, the total public investment needed to rehabilitate and maintain Boracay Island is about P7 billion from 2018 to 2022. Of this amount, P635.5 million with go to the enforcement of laws and regulations; some P535 million will be for pollution control and prevention; P72.5 million for the rehabilitation and recovery of ecosystems; about P4.7 billion to put in place reliable infrastructure facilities; P879.4 million for responsible social services in health, education, and housing; and P138.6 million for sustainable economic activities including tourism and livelihood.
Since it reopened last October 26, Boracay has been held up as a model for sustainable tourism by the Philippine government. It is the second-most popular tourist destination in the country after Cebu, and reached a historic-high number of 2 million tourists in 2017, with visitor receipts reaching P56 billion.
The DOT sees tourism as a way out of poverty for many Filipinos, and targets to improve the lives of 541,000 poor beneficiaries by 2022.
ADB’s view
The view was shared by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), underscoring how tourism has significant potential to contribute to the Asia-Pacific region’s long-term growth prospects through infrastructure development and job creation. Governments, however, should work to ensure the industry grows in a socially and environmentally sustainable way, according to participants at a high-level bank seminar.
The Governors’ Seminar, titled “The Role of Tourism for Sustainable Development,” at the 52nd Annual Meeting of ADB’s Board of Governors in Nadi, Fiji on Saturday, featured as panelists Japan Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso; Indonesia Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati; Fiji Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Civil Service, and Communications Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum; Italy’s Director-General for International Financial Relations, Ministry of Economy and Finance Gelsomina Vigliotti; and ADB President Takehiko Nakao.
According to a news statement from the ADB, international visitors to Asia have risen by 65 percent between 2010 and 2018 with key Asian destinations being China, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. Asian tourists are also an increasing driver of global tourism with higher incomes and a rapidly growing middle class seeking experiences abroad. Globally, international tourist arrivals are projected to reach 2.44 billion by 2030, a 75-percent increase from 2018, with Asia and the Pacific projected to account for a third of this number.
Tourism plays a large role in the Asian economy. Spending on hotels and airline tickets was $92 billion in 2018 with an estimated 78 million new jobs created. The indirect impact such as through tourism-related investment on new hotels or airplane purchases was larger at $2.94 trillion, creating an estimated 180 million jobs.