BORACAY Island was said to have breached its carrying capacity for tourists during Maundy Thursday and Good Friday last week, forcing government authorities to call the attention of the local governments of Aklan and the municipality of Malay.
In a letter to Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año and Environment Acting Secretary Jim O. Sampulna dated April 16, 2022, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat said: “Please be informed that based on the tourist arrival report to us by the Malay Tourism Office, the carrying capacity of Boracay Island for the past two days was way beyond its recommended daily threshold of which is 19,215.” She cited data that showed the total number of tourists on April 14 reached 21,252, and April 15, it was 22,519.
She added, “Considering that the local government is still under Alert Level 1 Status, strict implementation of measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 infections must be considered including the ideal volume of tourists within a given period. This is also a valuable step in driving a sustainable growth of tourism in the island.”
Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation and Management Group (BIARMG) General Manager Martin Jose V. Despi, Malay Mayor Frolibar S. Bautista, Aklan Gov. Florencio T. Miraflores, along with the heads of the national and Boracay stakeholders groups, were furnished a copy of said letter.
Holy Week this year was the first major vacation break for Filipinos under Alert Level 1, after enduring two years of pandemic travel restrictions. Local carriers had earlier announced an increase in flights to key leisure destinations like Caticlan, the gateway to Boracay. According to the Civil Aeronautics Board, it had approved 240 flights to Caticlan per month, from Cebu, Clark, and Manila for April; 248 for May; and 240 for June.
LGU can control tourists influx
An official at the Department of Tourism (DOT) told the BusinessMirror, “The LGU can control the influx of tourists because they still issue the QR codes.” The QR codes, which tourists to Boracay can secure after filling out an online form on the Aklan LGU’s website, are already pre-approved though.
The official, who requested anonymity as he had not been authorized to speak on the matter, added that tourists in Boracay were not just arriving by air, but also by land, “especially those coming from Region 6 (Western Visayas).”
Data from the Malay Tourism Office showed 13,519 tourists on the island on April 13 (Holy Wednesday), net of departures. However, 12,266 arrived the next day, and even with 4,533 departing the island, there were still 21,252 tourists who remained. On Good Friday, April 15, there were 6,192 who arrived on Boracay, bumping up total tourists to 22,519, net of the 4,925 who left that day.
A study commissioned by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2018 to determine Boracay’s carrying capacity, indicated that the island, famous the world over for its pristine white beaches, can only accommodate 19,215 tourists a day, at any given time, or 6,405 arrivals a day based on an average three-day stay.
Carrying capacity refers to an ecosystem’s ability to support people and other living things without having negative effects. “It also includes a limit of resources and pollution levels that can be maintained without experiencing high levels of change. If the carrying capacity is exceeded, living organisms must adapt to new levels of consumption or find alternative resources,” according to the Environmental Literary Council.
Meanwhile, there were 95,646 total tourists in Boracay from April 1-16, of which 71 percent or 67,907 arrived by air. The rest arrived by land, at 21,193, and by sea, at 6,546.
Of total tourists for the period, 92,100 were domestic travelers; 1,213 were overseas Filipino workers; and 2,333 were foreigners. The bulk of domestic tourists at 33,714 came from the National Capital Region.
Image credits: Brix Villaruel