Malay, Aklan – The island of Boracay has been receiving more than its fair share of visitors as it logs in over one million tourist arrivals since the start of the year. And it seems that all indicators point to the island, considered as the Philippine’s prime leisure destination, exceeding its 1.8 million target for the year.

Malay Mayor Frolibar Bautista is optimistic saying that “if we hit the 1 million mark and we are not expecting that much. If this will be the trend, we will exceed 2 million at the end of the year.” The Malay town in Aklan province, has jurisdiction over the island which anticipates more visitors from Korea and China next month which has already direct flights to their respective countries.

According to the data from the Malay local government, as of June 17 of this year, Boracay has registered 1,040,847 tourists, of which 199,098 are foreign visitors and 816,426 of which are local tourist while 25,323 are overseas Filipino workers.

One big factor which attributed to the increase is attributed to the hosting of various events, meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibits.

Other destinations including Palawan, Siargao and Bohol have also seen an increase in their tourist arrivals which are seen as a prelude to the full recovery of the tourism sector.