More Chinese tourists attracted to Boracay

BORACAY – In the first two months of 2017, Chinese nationals continue to dominate the tourist arrivals in this resort island.

There were 40,036 Chinese tourists recorded as of February, said Julfe Rabe, information officer of the Caticlan Jetty Port – the jump-off point to Boracay.

These Chinese were followed by the South Koreas at 37,511. Ranked third in tourist arrivals are the Taiwanese at 5,126.

As of Friday last week, Rabe said, they have monitored 174,783 overall tourists arrivals – .5 percent up from last year’s data 173,256 figures for the same period.

In recent past years, South Koreans were the top tourists in Boracay.

The other foreign arrivals for the month of February included the following:

* USA – 3,201

* Russia – 2,283

* United Kingdom – 1,974

* Australia – 1,727

* Malaysia – 1,675

* Canada – 1,368, and

* Sweden – 1,244.

Earlier, Niven Maquirang, jetty port administrator, said they were anticipating an increase in the number of Chinese tourists.

“This is because of President Rodrigo Duterte’s thrust to improve the country’s relations with China,” he said.

Meanwhile, the White Beach in this island ranked 24th among the 25 best beaches in the world, according to travel website TripAdvisor.

Boracay and the Ngapali Beach in Myanmar (25th) were the two Asian beach destinations that made it to 2017 Travelers’ Choice.

“Calm, warm waters, gently sloping sand … very relaxing, possibly the most beautiful beach in Asia,” was how the world’s largest travel site described the long-stretch of the White Beach.

The winning beaches were chosen based on the quality and quantity of traveler reviews on TripAdvisor in 2016.