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The island could have accommodated 2,000, but only 35 tourists arrived on day 1
ANCX Staff | 02 October 2020
The island could have been home to at least 2,000 tourists, according to estimates prior to October 1. After all, hotels have been licensed to operate at 50 percent capacity, while only allowing two guests to share a room. Speaking to Teleradyo, the mayor of the Malaysian city, Frolibar Bautista, said: “Maganda ang Boracay kasi nagpahinga siya nang for how many months.” The beach water is cleaner now, he added.
But at the reopening of Boracay yesterday, only a total of 35 tourists arrived, arriving by air, land and sea, ”confirms DOT Secretary Berna Rómulo Puyat to ANCX. According to a CNN report, of the arrivals, 7 were from Manila, 14 from Cebu and 5 from Aklan. ABS-CBN News reported Thursday that Philippine Airlines moved its initial reopening flight to Boracay at the last minute to Sunday, October 4, citing no reason for the postponement.
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“My glass is half full. It would be nice to take a few steps first so we can test the protocols, ”Secretary Puyat told reporter Jeff Canoy yesterday, commenting on the participation. “And I expect more people on the wave.”
“Konti lang talaga tao and they are all local or foreign,” said a guest who arrived on the island on October 1. “So many stores have closed that it is very dark at night. Hotel prices have lowered the kasi mahal yung hyssop test, which seems to be the main obstacle for people who want to go here.”
“In short, it was ‘anticlimactic,'” says Freida Dario-Santiago, editor-in-chief of the island’s Boracay Sun News. “Aside from the security forces in full force, White Beach by Station 1 by mid-afternoon was relatively empty.”
As a longtime Boracay resident (he moved to the island in 2003), Santiago only wishes good things for this reopening. She acknowledges DOT’s “slow but steady” approach and hopes that arrivals will eventually improve.
“But I also feel that there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of the new guidelines,” shares Santiago. Mentions Provincial Executive Order No. 037, issued on September 30, the day before the reopening. She describes him as “understandably cautious and wrong on the safe side,” but points out the “few daunting ‘fashion skills’ that are not only distasteful to tourists, but make it difficult for business owners to swallow.”
These include, Santiago says, 1) required RT-PCR tests that may have been too expensive for the local traveler, and 2) requiring employees working on the island to have RT-PCR tests performed once every four weeks. , which could be too expensive especially for people who had just gotten out of months locked up.
Understandably, many tourists prefer to wait until the restrictions are lifted and hopefully the tests are cheaper. We imagine that it is the same position that some businesses on the island are taking: staying closed instead of, as Santiago says, spending more than they expect to get.
Still, the publisher believes the reopening was a big step in the right direction. “And I’m sure it will improve and it will be more balanced between security and the economy.”
Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores said in an interview with CNN on Friday morning that he expected the low turnout on Day 1. “As you know, we have very strict rules and regulations for travelers,” he said, adding the factor of that people are still afraid to travel. But the government, he said, is hopeful that travel confidence will be restored as weeks and months go by. At this time, he is grateful that DOT has granted the province’s request to reopen Boracay. “Aklan depends solely on tourism and we have to take care of 20,000 workers who have lost their jobs,” he said.
