No more “Laboracay”parties, smoking and drinking in public, in rehabilitated Boracay – DOT

In light of the re-opening of Boracay in two months, the Department of Tourism (DOT) said that there will be no more “Laboracay” parties in the island – smoking and drinking in public will also be strictly prohibited, in order to promote an environment-friendly atmosphere.

Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that the inter-agency team that facilitated the rehabilitation of Boracay has decided to put a carrying capacity on the island, limiting tourist arrivals. Puyat said that the rehabilitated island could no longer accommodate the huge number of tourists who flock there during “Laboracay.”

She mentions that during “Laboracay”, there are around 60,000 to 70,000 tourists that flock to the island in three days. “Definitely, Boracay island cannot accommodate that number of people,” she said.

Puyat says that they could not yet determine the exact carrying capacity of the island yet. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Roy Cimatu will determine the number of people that the island could accommodate at any given time.

The rehabilitation of Boracay is spearheaded by the DENR and DOT, along with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

Aside from banning “Laboracay” parties, Puyat said that they will also be prohibiting smoking and drinking in public places, including the beach front, as soon as the island is opened to the public.

“No more drinking and smoking in the white sand, why? Because this is a public beach; do you want your children, your family to walk around the beach with broken glass and cigarette butts?” said Puyat.   

Both foreign and local tourists will only be allowed to smoke and drink in designated places.

She also urges all tourists to observe sustainable development as soon as the island re-opens, to ensure that it will not relapse into the state which led to its temporary closure.  

Last April, President Duterte ordered the entire Boracay off-limits to tourists, saying that the tiny island has become a “cesspool”, and its waters tainted by sewage.

Boracay is known as one of the premiere destinations in the Philippines, with its world-famous powdery white sand, but unregulated tourism and environmental degradation has changed the island; it is no longer the same tropical paradise as it was decades ago.

Authorities said that a few of the hundreds of hotels and restaurants in Boracay use the island’s drainage system to send untreated sewage directly into its turquoise waters.

Officials say that the target date of completion of the rehabilitation and the launch opening of Boracay is on October 31.

The DOT will launch a worldwide advertising campaign for the country in the following months, aiming to strengthen promotions of various Philippine destinations, to encourage more visitors to other parts of the Philippines.

In an earlier statement, the DOT said that “this campaign is projected to entice more travelers to visit more destinations in addition to Boracay, as trainings and workshops for better sustainability practices are now being disseminated to industry players all over the country, guaranteed to provide better services to future clients.”

The soft opening of Boracay is targeted at October 26, and Tourism Undersecretary and spokesperson Benito Bengzon Jr. said that a better and a more sustainable Boracay is set to welcome back visitors, and is expected to usher in newer and more environmentally-conscious markets awaiting the island’s full recovery.

via Philippine Star / Robertzon Ramirez and Catherine Talavera