The city government of Borongan in Eastern Samar has reported 85,000 tourist arrivals from January to September 2024 as regular flights from Manila and Cebu carried more visitors to the provincial capital, an official reported on Thursday.

Rupert Ambil, the city’s flight operations chair and tourism officer-in-charge, said that in the first three quarters of 2024, the city had already logged more tourists than the whole year’s arrival recorded before the pandemic.

“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 on 85,000 as of the end of September 2024,” Ambil said in a phone interview.

Ambil said the operations of Manila-Cebu-Borongan flights by Philippine Airlines (PAL) largely contributed to the increase in tourist arrivals.

PAL started its operation in Borongan City on Dec. 19, 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 this year, the airline company increased its flights to three times a week and started accepting cargo shipments going in and out of the city.

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 Dec. 19, 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.

Joining the signing were Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda’s Matthew Llamas, PAL senior specialist for development and sales; Joery Falloria, PAL Tacloban branch manager; and Mary Jane Ocop, PAL Tacloban senior account executive.

To sustain flight operations, the city government opened a local ticketing office, making them have a unique model that no other airport in the country utilizes.

The city government is also the only local government in the country to mount its departure terminal out of its own funds.

After finishing the entire planning and construction process in just three months, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines expressed a desire to replicate the city’s modular construction design and has started applying the same to other airports across the country. (PNA)