BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan — The number of visitors entering Boracay Island will be strictly monitored to ensure that it will not exceed its current carrying capacity.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Puyat said Friday the carrying capacity of the island will be strictly implemented once it reopens on October 26, as instructed by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Based on the study of the island’s carrying capacity by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), only 6,405 visitors will be allowed to enter Boracay per day.
“We have to enforce the carrying capacity because if we don’t, Boracay will return to what it was before. We want it to be sustainable and to be always open,” she said in a media interview.
Puyat said they are also eyeing to limit the number of flights to Kalibo and Caticlan to ensure that only restricted number of tourists would go to Boracay.
She said several airlines have agreed to only one flight a day, noting that about 98 percent of tourist come via air.
Puyat likewise stressed that only hotels and resorts that are 100 percent compliant with the requirements of the DENR, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and DOT will be allowed to operate.
“They have to be 100 percent compliant,” said Puyat during a public hearing conducted by the House Committee on Natural Resources in Boracay.
At present, Puyat said, only the 25 establishments are compliant. A list of which was earlier released by the DOT.
She said this number could still increase as there are still establishments complying with the requirements.
These 25 establishments comprised 2,063 rooms out of the about 15,000 rooms on the island, Puyat said.
Based on the study, the number of existing hotels/beach resorts on the island is alrady 430, which is more than its real carrying capacity of 249.
But Puyat said they will stick with the carrying capacity. (Karen Bermejo/PNA)