AGI’s Boracay, Philippines IR plan: Not too big, not too small, “just right”
Boracay World Resorts includes a boutique casino, smaller in scale, to fit the 10.3-square kilometre holiday island. “We don’t want a big structure in Boracay,” said AGI president and CEO Kevin Tan. “We want it to be just right.”
AGI is already well-established on Boracay. Its one-square kilometre Boracay Newcoast master-planned community includes a private beach, a 2,000-room hotel, condos, a convention centre and an 18-hole golf course.
The new ₱16.656tn (£225.7m/€269m/$300m) casino resort will add hotel suites and freestanding guest villas, “unique features (to) elevate it to an elite league of destinations”, Tan added.
This development – and a second IR being built in Mactan, Cebu – are expected to benefit from the post-pandemic travel boom and the government’s plan to boost international tourism. AGI has actively planned “more ‘tourism-focused’ hotel projects” to dovetail with that plan, said Tan.
But too many tourists aren’t always good for destinations like Boracay.
Philippines paradise lost
The island paradise, in the Philippines’ Western Visayas section, is known for its white sand beaches, cobalt seas and swaying palms.
But in the past, tourists drawn to the postcard setting have caused overcrowding, litter and noise and air pollution. At one point, hotels and restaurants on the island constructed illegal sewers to pump excess waste into the ocean.
In 2018, then-president Rodrigo Duterte called Boracay a “cesspool” and closed it for six months of environmental remediation. He blamed the hospitality industry. “As long as there is shit coming out of those pipes draining to the sea,” the president declared, “I will never give you the time of the day [to reopen].”
Duterte cancelled pending casino projects, but quickly backtracked, saying, “Please forgive me for the contradiction. We don’t have money. Wherever we may get money, I’ll take it. If that’s from gambling, so be it.”
In 2021, he signed off on the Megaworld project and another development proposed by Macau-based Galaxy Entertainment Group.
To prevent future overcrowding, the Philippines government convened a task force that limited tourism on Boracay to 6,400 visitors a day, or 19,215 overall.
Building a better tourist trap
Philippine tourism officials have set a goal to attract 7.7 million foreign tourists this year, up 41% over 2023. Airports in close proximity to Boracay, at Kalibo and Caticlan, are adding more flights to bring more tourists to Boracay.
The new IR could welcome some of them when it opens by the end of 2025.
The task force that once enforced the tourism cap was dismantled in 2022, leading to fears that the overcrowding that caused such damage could recur.
To address those concerns, last year local lawmakers formed the Boracay-Caticlan Sustainable Development Council to monitor the situation. In 2023, province administrator Selwyn Ibarreta told the New York Times a new, independent body may be created to review the tourist cap.
A Philippines tourism website promotes the island’s new identity as a “model for sustainable tourism development”.
In the interim, Tan is promoting the upcoming IR as “the country’s premier tourism spot and the best beach destination in the world.… The Boracay World Resorts will elevate the island’s appeal to tourists from all over the globe even more.”