ILOILO CITY — After more than a month of restrictions due to rising cases of COVID-19, world-famous Boracay Island in Malay town, Aklan province can now welcome back domestic tourists.
This was after the national government reclassified Aklan province to general community quarantine (GCQ) status beginning September 8, Wednesday.
Aklan Governor Florencio Miraflores also issued Executive Order No. 2021-022 that formally reopened the resort island to domestic tourists.
Boracay, the country’s most famous beach destination, temporarily barred tourists last August 1 when the national government placed Aklan province under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).
Under MECQ, leisure travel is not allowed.
But while Boracay has now reopened, there are barely any new tourists due to Typhoon Jolina.
There’s also the sudden decision of the national government to retain the MECQ status for National Capital Region (NCR), which were most Boracay tourists are coming from.
Prior to the August 1 temporary tourism closure, more than 35,000 domestic tourists visited Boracay. This was the biggest number of tourist arrivals since October 2020 when the government allowed domestic tourists to visit Boracay when pandemic’s travel restrictions were eased.