DISCERNING travelers and tourists prefer destinations off the beaten track. But many of them still end up in the world-famous beach of Boracay Island in Aklan.

Despite controversies on land ownership and unregulated development, Boracay has drawn more tourists every year because of its famous white beach, consistently included in the lists of the best beaches in the world.

The global economic slump has failed to dampen tourist arrivals with new foreign markets and local tourists making up for the slack in visitors from countries hit hard by the world recession.

Edwin Trompeta, regional director for Western Visayas of the Department of Tourism, says the lure of Boracay remains its white beach and fine white sand and crystal clear waters.

?The beach and waters combined with the island?s nightlife make Boracay irresistible,? he says.

Tourist arrivals on the island have been on the upswing for a decade. They are up from 554,181 tourists in 2006, 596,707 in 2007, 634,263 in 2008 and 649,559 last year.

For the first five months of this year, tourist arrivals have grown by 12 percent, according to data from the tourism office of Malay town in Aklan.

From January to May, tourist arrivals reached 378,694, higher than the 337,664 tourists who visited the island in the same period last year and the 320,994 tourists who came in 2008.

The highest number was recorded in May with tourist arrivals reaching 101,349, higher than the 92,813 tourists in the same month in 2009 and 83,731 in 2008.

Income from tourism in Boracay from January to May reached P6,961,683.28.

Foreign tourists comprised around 30 percent of the visitors (113,445) while domestic tourists reached 252,890. Around 12,309 overseas Filipino tourists also visited the island from January to May this year.

East Asians comprised the bulk among foreign tourists led by South Koreans (37,851), followed by Chinese (17,133) and Taiwanese (15,118).

Ro-Ro tourists

The sharp increase in local tourists is credited mainly on the island?s greater accessibility because of the roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessels.

?With the Ro-Ro, it has become possible for backpackers and people on a budget to travel to, and enjoy the white sand beach of Boracay at a very affordable cost,? says Reynaldo David, president and chief executive officer of the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

The DBP has helped boost travel to Boracay and other tourist destinations by financing infrastructure systems through its sustainable logistics development program (SLDP). The Ro-Ro system is a major component of the SLDP.

David says trips through the Ro-Ro system are appealing to tourists who want to make the most of their vacations.

?Not only is it cheap, but the Ro-Ro allows tourists to visit as many cities and provinces as they want. They can just bring their cars on their journey,? he says.

Trompeta says the Ro-Ro system has boosted domestic travel especially to Boracay because local tourists from Manila can travel to the island-resort for less than P1,000 for a one-way trip.

Boracay-bound tourists can drive to the Batangas port and board a Ro-Ro vessel to Calapan City in Oriental Mindoro. From there, they can drive to Roxas town in Capiz before taking another Ro-Ro vessel to the Caticlan port in Malay, the jump-off point to Boracay.

The DBP has also financed development projects in Boracay especially in infrastructure and expansion and development of resorts and hotels.

Among the DBP-assisted hotels is Red Coconut Beach Hotel, which is constructing additional nine rooms to accommodate more guests. The expansion will increase its rooms from 45 to 54, says hotel general manager Mike Schitzius.

Started as a garden resort 25 years ago, Red Coconut has expanded to a beach-front hotel that like other resorts on the island continue to enjoy brisk bookings despite the global economic crisis.

?We have a lot of return guests and continue to register a record number of visitors each year,? says Schitzius.

Around 80 percent of the hotel?s guests are Filipinos while the rest are foreigners, mostly from the United States. But in March this year, many Russian tourists visited the island.

Schitzius says the growing popularity of other tourist destinations in the Philippines is more of a compliment rather than a competition for Boracay because tourists who go to these destinations eventually also visit Boracay.

?What tourists want in Boracay is location, location, location,? says Schitzius.