More than 80,000 tourists travelled to Boracay in February, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT) on Friday, with the number of visitors starting to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Puyat told DZRH on Friday that Boracay saw 80,882 tourists in February, significantly higher than the previous year's 16,487.
"Noong pre-pandemic [mayroong] 103,000. So halos malapit na rin, so masayang-masaya 'yung ating mga hotel and resort sa Boracay," she said in an interview.
(Before the pandemic, we had 103,000. So this is almost close to that, so hotels and resorts in Boracay are very happy.)
The figures arrived as the country reports decreasing COVID-19 cases as of late, with restrictions slowly easing to revitalize the economy hit hard by the pandemic.
Puyat said vaccinated travelers may now come to tourist destinations, including Boracay, without presenting a negative RT-PCR test. For those coming with their kids, those aged 12 and below are exempted as long as they are with adults who are fully vaccinated.
With more tourists crowding in local destinations, Puyat reminded local government officials to continue implementing health and safety protocols.
"Kasi kahit Alert Level 1 na tayo, kailangan nandun pa rin yung minimum health and safety protocols," she said.
(Because even if we are under Alert Level 1, the minimum health and safety protocols should still be there.)
