The latest report from the city government of Borongan, Eastern Samar in the Central Philippines shows that 85,000 tourist arrivals made their way in from January to September 2024.

According to city flight operations chair and officer-in-charge for tourism Rupert Ambil, the city had logged more tourists in the first three quarters of this year than it did for the whole of 2019.

Ambil said: “We’ve hit the highest mark since 2017, based on our collected data. In the pre-pandemic years, we had 80,000, and now we’re at 85,000 as of the end of September.”

He added that the resumption of Manila-Cebu-Borongan flights by Philippine Airlines (PAL) largely contributed to the increase in tourist arrivals.

Flying back in

PAL restarted operations in Borongan City back in December 2022 after the city government and the airline officials sealed the partnership to signal the operation that started with twice-a-week flights catering to the transport needs of both tourists and Eastern Samar locals.

In September of this year, the airline increased its flights to three times a week and started accepting cargo shipments going in and out of the city.

Also within this year, PAL carried local and international passengers who participated in events hosted by the city, such as the Philippine Kiteboarding Tour, city fiesta, Padul-ong Festival, and Miss Philippines Earth Beachwear Competition, among others.

During the third anniversary of PAL’s Borongan operation on 19th December, the city government and the airline signed the renewal of the memorandum of agreement for the operation of the country’s flag carrier in the city.