Direct flights boost tourism

By JUN ARIOLO N. AGUIRRE

BORACAY – Direct flights from East Asian countries are boosting the tourism industry of this island paradise, the Malay municipal tourism office reported.

Barbarra Flores, municipal tourism operations officer, reported that at least 83,731 foreign and local tourists visited the resort island last April.

For the month of May, the tourism office registered a total of 81,119 tourists (local and foreign).

During the summer season, the nearby Kalibo airport received direct flights from several Asian countries such as Korea and Taiwan.

East Asian countries (including China and Japan) registered 9,334 tourists in April while 10,817 came in May.

There were tourists, too, from North America (Canada, Mexico, USA) with 1,293 arrivals in April and 1,324 in May.

“This only shows that many from Asian countries want to visit Boracay. I hope that more direct flights from other countries would land in Kalibo,” said Flores.

According to the Air Transportation Office, a direct flight from China (China Eastern Airlines) was supposed to land in Kalibo last June 30 but was canceled because of Typhoon “Frank.”

Filipino tourists still compose the bulk of Boracay tourists. There were 66,846 domestic tourists in April and 63,669 in May./PN