Puyat says PH tourist arrivals hike 11.3% despite Boracay closure

International tourist arrivals increased by 11.3 percent for the first seven months of 2018 despite the closure of the Boracay island in April, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said on Tuesday.

Puyat, who was appointed as the Department of Tourism (DOT) secretary in May, admitted that she was “very worried” that the Boracay closure might affect the number of tourist arrivals.

In April, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the shutdown of the resort island for six months for rehabilitation purposes.

READ: Duterte approves 6-month closure of Boracay, starting April 26

“I was very worried because of the closure of Borracay, that’s why I was surprised with the figure came from the Philippine Statistics Authority that despite the closure of Boracay, tourism arrivals increased,” Puyat said during a “Meets Inquirer Multimedia” forum.

Highest tourist arrivals

According to Puyat, Korean nationals ranked first in the highest number of tourist arrivals in the country from January to July 2018 with 21.76 percentage share.

Data from the DOT showed the number of Korean nationals that visited the Philippines this year spiked to 937,227.

This data was 10,000 higher from the Korean nationals that arrived in the country in 2017, numbering 927,227.

It was then followed by China with 764,094 tourist arrivals and United States of the America with 649,496 visitors. China and USA have 17.74 and 15.08 percentage shares, respectively.

Puyat said that the high number of tourist arrivals could be attributed to the talks made by the tourism department with its stakeholders.

She added that arrivals remained high despite the closure of Boracay because tourists were prompted to visit other tourist destinations located in the country.

“They were diverted to other alternative destinations such as Cebu, Bohol, Palawan, Bicol, even Siargao,” Puyat said.

“That’s why there is really a need to always be in touch with your stakeholders,” she added. /jpv