Boracay, Palawan named among ‘Best Islands in Asia-Pacific’

MANILA, Philippines — Two island destinations in the Philippines were included in the 10 “Best Islands in Asia-Pacific” by a foreign travel magazine.

DestinAsian based in Singapore listed Boracay and Palawan as among the “Best Islands” in its 17th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards this year.

Boracay ranked fifth while Palawan was ninth.

A photo of paraw boats sailing amid the sunset in Boracay was featured.

Palawan was highlighted with a photo of limestone cliffs surrounded by clear blue and green waters.

In a Facebook post, the municipal tourism office of Malay town in Aklan attributed the recognition to the “collaborative effort“ of the local government of Malay, the tourism office, stakeholders and local volunteers who make Boracay Island “better than ever.“

As of March 26, at least 499,120 tourists, 137,800 of them foreigners and 7,131 overseas Filipinos  have visited Boracay this year, according to the tourism office.

Bali in Indonesia topped DestinAsian’s 10 “Best Islands” list, followed by Maldives, Phuket and Koh Samui in Thailand, Boracay, Phu Quoc in Vietnam, Langkawi and Penang in Malaysia, Palawan, and Lombok in Indonesia.

The result of this year’s DestinAsian Readers’ Choice Award was “a roll call of 230 properties that the voters deemed to be the top places to stay in the region, compiled alongside favorite cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines and more,” the magazine said.