Boracay's Rehabilitation: Balancing Tourism and Environment

Boracay, one of the Philippines’ most popular destinations, attracted over two million tourists

in 2017, making it a top contributor to the country’s tourism revenues.

However, decades of rapid, unregulated growth strained the island’s limited infrastructure.

Pollution from untreated sewage, overcrowding, and illegal construction led President Rodrigo

Duterte to describe Boracay as a “cesspool,” prompting a six month closure from April to October

2018 for rehabilitation (TIME, 2018; Condé Nast Traveler, 2018).

While environmentally necessary, this intervention created immediate economic disruptions

across the tourism and hospitality industry. According to the Philippine Institute