BORACAY, Philippines: The sunset in Boracay has a certain wonder to it. As the horizon starts to burn with colour, crowds are drawn out from their afternoon malaise to the shimmering foreshore in time for an inevitably spectacular show.
The Philippines’ holiday jewel has lurched from crisis to crisis. Its environment has undergone a radical revitalisation and its economy derailed by closures and evaporating tourist numbers.In 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte labelled the island a “cesspool”, a reaction to the island’s overcrowded beaches, wastewater being pumped into the sea, green tides of seaweed, congested roads and sprawling infrastructure.
The positive changes to Boracay since the shutdown of 2018 are clear to see. The island’s iconic White Beach is less bustling than it was before - gone are the elaborate commercial sandcastles, the fire-twirling shows and dining setups on the sand. “They really cleaned it up. People are now back in the water when before, as much as possible, we had to avoid touching the water because we knew it's not healthy for us,” she said.But mass tourism ideals still rule on Boracay. While many businesses have not returned post-shutdown and pandemic, and their skeletal ruins dot the coastline, close to every inch of prime coastal land is built upon.
These critical markets have yet to bounce back. The first charter flight for Chinese tour groups arrived in April, but visa processing hurdles remain at present for individual travellers. He told CNA that Boracay could handle a massive increase in visitors, given the improvements made since the shutdown, the appetite of local businesses and the excess number of hotel rooms available.
The decision to lift the cap on daily tourist arrivals is pending on a study by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources , which previously led the national taskforce on Boracay. Those findings could determine whether the island is fit and was meant to be delivered a year ago when the Duterte administration ended its term.Business operators on the island are anxiously awaiting a further uplift.
At the same time, Tan and his business counterparts are pushing for the return of more direct flights from Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia, after those routes were put on ice after the shutdown and are yet to re-commence.