Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the government was likely to fail to meet its 7.4-million tourist arrival target because of the six-month closure of Boracay Island. DOT spokesperson and Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. said the country lost around 500,000 foreign tourists while Boracay was being rehabilitated from April to October. “While we were able to divert some of the foreign tourist traffic to Cebu, Bohol and Palawan, there might be some who canceled all together,” Bengzon said. Still highBut while actual arrivals may be short of the target, the 7.2-million expected arrivals will still be higher than the record 6.6 million posted in 2017. Puyat said foreign tourist arrivals from January to October reached 5.88 million from January to October, 7.43 percent up compared with the same period in 2017.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 15, 2018 23:15 UTC