Philippine holiday island to close for clean-up
The Philippine holiday island of Boracay is to be shut down for six months over environmental concerns.
The country’s president, Rodrigo Duterte, has ordered the closure of the island from April 26 after saying it was turning into a ‘cesspool’.
He has accused the island’s hotels and restaurants of dumping sewage directly into the sea.
The government said tourism businesses on the island would receive financial support for their losses.
The island attracted nearly 2 million visitors last year.
Philippine tourism stakeholders had previously warned that closing Boracay would damage the whole of the country’s tourism.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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