MANILA, PHILIPPINES — In a bid to preserve the pristine beauty of Boracay while positioning it as a premier tourist and investment hub, AirAsia Philippines was the official airline carrier to fly Ambassadors from the ASEAN and other Asian countries for a thee-day International Business Forum and Diplomatic Visit to Boracay.
Aiming to create a platform for international collaboration and promote economic and tourism partnerships for Boracay, AirAsia flight Z2 217 hosted Ambassadors Abdul Melvin Castelino of Malaysia, Megawati Mana of Brunei, Agus Widjojo of Indonesia, Lai Thai Binh of Vietnam, Phan Peuv of Cambodia, Sonexay Vannayay of Laos, Imtiaz Ahmad Kazi of Pakistan, Minn-Gan Chow of Taiwan, and other diplomatic staff to Caticlan.
Issues discussed include opportunities for collaboration, the emergence of digital marketing, and sustainable tourism. AirAsia Philippines CEO Ricky Isla who is also a panelist in the business forum expressed his excitement about the forum and the opportunity to firsthand showcase the wonders of Boracay to the diplomatic community.
“As an ASEAN carrier, AirAsia takes pride in welcoming our Ambassadors to Boracay. By flying our international leaders, we hope to contribute in promoting Boracay not just as a tourist destination, but also as a potential foreign investment hub. This also cements AirAsia’s position as a market leader in airline operations in Boracay,” Ricky shared.
Currently, AirAsia Philippines flies Manila-Caticlan nine times daily, Clark-Caticlan daily, and Cebu-Caticlan three-times weekly. This is on top of the three-time daily flights via Kalibo International Airport.
“AirAsia is the preferred airline partner of guests traveling to Boracay because of its affordable fare, best deals with over 216 hotel partners through the AirAsia MOVE platform, and the world class service it offers. All year round, the world’s best low cost airline enjoys an average load factor of 90-95% with over 300 thousand seats sold for Q1 of 2024 alone. It is in fact the top booked destination among all AirAsia routes,” Ricky added.
During the pandemic, AirAsia actively promoted Boracay among leisure travelers by flying in Philippines’ top-tier celebrities such as Ms. Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, Jodi Sta Maria, Vice Ganda, Arci Munoz, Christine Reyes, and Yeng Constantino, under its airline of the stars campaign, to support micro small medium enterprises.
Boracay gained various international recognitions such as the Time Magazine’s 50 World’s Greatest Places, ranking 18th place in the list of the 2023 World Beach Guide, fifth Best Island Destination by the 2023 DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Award, the third spot in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2023, and recently being nominated as Asia’s Leading Luxury Island Destination in the 2024 World Travel Awards.
