Our guests can expect a better Boracay when it comes to maintaining a high environmental standard, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said via Facebook messenger. Please manage your expectations, she added in a word of advice to tourists expecting the same Boracay.
Drinking and smoking in public places will be banned, along with the late-night parties that have made the island one of Asia's top tourism destinations.
Jet skis and other water sports will be banned until further notice, and sand castle making will be regulated, according to a Twitter advisory by Cebu Air Inc. Confirmed bookings with accredited hotels will be required before being allowed entry to the island.
The number of visitors will be capped at 6,405 arrivals per day while only 19,000 tourists will be allowed on the island at any given time, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said.
The Philippines opens the doors on Friday (Oct 26) to a spruced up and newly regulated Boracay, its famous holiday island that was shuttered to mend decades of harm caused by unchecked tourism.
The white sand idyll was closed to visitors in April after President Rodrigo Duterte called it a "cesspool" tainted by raw sewage flowing from hotels and restaurants straight into the sea.
But the re-christened resort has a slew of new rules that restrict boozing on the beach, limit the number of tourists and hotels, all while a renovation spree is ongoing.
Among the first visitors to land just after dawn on Friday were first-timers attracted by the prospect of a cleaner, less crowded island.
Once a quiet hideaway favoured by backpackers, the tiny island was transformed by overdevelopment into a mass destination seeing some two million visitors per year.
Even if there are many renovations and it's not yet perfect, when you go to the beach you realise that closing it for six months was worth it.
Under the new rules, the beachfront is cleared of the masseuses, vendors, bonfires and even the builders of its famous photo-op sandcastles it was once crowded with.
Buildings were bulldozed and businesses pushed back to create a 30m buffer zone from the waterline.
Construction is everywhere with road repairs, hotels and resort renovations happening around the island.
All water sports, save for swimming, are also banned for the time being, while Boracay's three casinos have been permanently shut down in line with Duterte's wishes.
Boracay, which major tourist magazines consistently rate as among the world's best beaches, measures a mere 1,000 hectares.
Yet, it was seeing up to 40,000 tourists at peak times, with tourists spending US$1 billion a year but also leaving mountains of garbage and an overflowing sewer system.
The new rules say 19,200 tourists will be allowed on the island at any one time, with the government aiming to enforce that by controlling the number of available hotel rooms.
Nearly 400 hotels and restaurants deemed to violate local environmental laws have already been ordered closed and airlines as well as ferries were told to restrict service to the area.
Drinking and smoking are banned on the beach and the huge multi-day beach parties dubbed LaBoracay that drew tens of thousands of tourists during the May 1 Labour Day weekend will be a thing of the past.
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said last week she hopes the new Boracay will be the start of a "culture of sustainable tourism" in the Philippines, adding other tourist destinations will be next.
The Boracay Foundation, the main business industry group on the island, has not commented on the restrictions but welcomed the return of tourists.
Everyone, big and small, has sacrificed a lot during the six-month closure, its executive director Pia Miraflores said.
Tens of thousands of workers were left unemployed when the island's tourism machine was deprived of visitors.
Other places in the region strained by mass tourism have also used closures as a tactic to protect the sites from destruction.
Tourism Observer
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