Boracay remains a strong tourism destination

This resort island continues to be a strong tourism destination despite the recent presidential declaration of a state of lawlessness.

Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said that from January to September this year, Boracay registered a rousing 1, 310, 670 foreign and local tourism arrivals. The said statistics is notably higher compared to the same period of 2015 with only 1, 199, 742 tourists.

President Rodrigo R. Duterte has declared the country under a state of lawless violence to prevent possible terrorist attacks in different tourism areas in the country. Because of the declaration, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are on maximum alert level.

"We implemented tight security measures in Boracay and the tourists understood it. It is a welcome note that our tourism figures still continue to increase," said Maquirang.

Of the statistics, foreign tourists registered 662, 829 arrivals while domestic tourists registered 614, 338.

"If these increasing trend continues, we are anticipating our tourism arrivals may reach 1.7 million this year," said Maquirang.