A family-friendly Christmas in Boracay
The beach may not be the typical destination for Christmas, but it’s becoming a popular choice among holidaymakers. Boracay, for one, sees an increase in tourist arrivals when the rainy season ends in the latter part of the year.
In November 2023, the island famous for its white sand received 119,993 domestic tourists, 1,650 balikbayan guests and 42,489 international visitors. This is according to the data posted on the Malay Municipal Tourism Office’s Facebook page. Boracay is part of the Malay municipality in Aklan province.
In December last year, the figures jumped to 134,396 domestic tourists, 2,315 balikbayan guests, and 42,489 international visitors. The upward trend is expected to be maintained as 2024 draws to a close.
“December is the beginning of the best period for us,” says Franck Merot, general manager of Mövenpick Resort and Spa Boracay. That’s the time tourists from the wintry Western world and Asian countries come over to enjoy the holidays in the tropics. It’s also the best time for beach weddings, making this month and the next, January, the busiest for nuptials. The peak season continues going into Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter and up until the end of summer.
Christmas decorations are up by mid-November, he tells Lifestyle on our recent visit to the island. Around this time, the resort has wrapped up its monthlong donation drive of essentials, like school supplies, for the benefit of students at a local school. The project is in line with the initiative established by the Mövenpick hotel brand in all its properties worldwide.
Merot, a Frenchman who’s been living in the Philippines for 17 years, recalls some memorable Christmas celebrations at his current posting. On its first year, 2019, the hotel was fully packed with guests enjoying a fun-filled party on Dec. 25. Two days later, a big storm hit the island that destroyed communication lines for five days.
Amazing New Year’s Eve
The following year, the pandemic happened and forced shut many establishments across the country. Mövenpick Resort and Spa Boracay reopened on Dec. 15 with an incomplete team, says Merot, and “it was hell,” adding that 2020 was “one of the worst” years he’s seen through his decades in the hospitality industry.
In 2021, Merot’s team became complete, and together they strove to move forward as the overall postpandemic situation in the country started improving. Things got better in 2022, which the hotel concluded with an “amazing” New Year’s Eve party led by singer Katrina Velarde.
This year’s holiday celebration is shaping up to be the biggest yet at the hotel. Merot notes that the decor, particularly at the hotel’s lobby, gives the “whole synergy” of Christmas as it is known globally but experienced locally in a tropical country. He points to the red sofa, which is positioned between two glittery Christmas trees, as the perfect spot for a family portrait. Guests can have theirs taken by a professional photographer tapped by the hotel to come by on Dec. 24. Another Christmas Eve treat is a special dinner buffet that evokes the traditional noche buena.
More Paskong Pinoy elements are in store on Christmas Day itself with pabitin-style games and performances of cultural dances. An array of local dishes and delicacies will be highlighted in the Christmas lunch that’s presented in a way known at the hotel as Kalye Sol. It takes place at the outdoor bar-restaurant called Sol Marina Beach Club, where there’s also a stage. Beside it is the area for the buffet that regularly consists of grilled food prepared on the spot, along with international specialties like paella, shawarma, dim sum, maki, sliders and pastries.
Family market
“We really want to attract the family market, for them to build memories together and then they come back,” Merot said. “We also respect the privacy of couples who don’t want kids around. So we have to find the right balance between those two markets.”
The career hotelier notes that Boracay, in general, has changed a lot since he first worked here in 2008 in another resort. “It’s better now, to be honest. Because before it was a bachelor, party-party place. I didn’t like it that much. I prefer it now, and I see the island is more into the family market.”
Mövenpick Resort and Spa Boracay is located on the island’s northwestern tip called Station 0 and set in lush surroundings. It has lodgings that can accommodate a family’s preference for space and proximity, especially if they’re staying as a big group. Its amenities cater to the guests’ specific needs, including a day care for those with young children.
The hotel offers a lineup of activities that appeals to the various interests of guests and their children. There are water activities, such as kayaking, paddle boarding and snorkeling. Arrangements can be made for those who want to do Zumba or belly dancing and also learn traditional dances, like tinikling, maglalatik and pandanggo sa ilaw.
Another fun activity is pizza-making, held at the hotel’s Italian restaurant called Brezza. Our teachers during our visit were chefs Frederick Samutya, Ruffy Guiral and Jhun Mark Cajulao. They taught us how to prepare a pizza using toppings that the kitchen staff already seasoned and their specialty tomato sauce over the dough made in the hotel’s own bakery. They also assisted us in baking the pizza in the wood-fired oven that was flown in from the Italian city of Naples, known as the pizza capital of the world.
In the afternoon, guests can partake of chocolate in its various forms during the Chocolate Hour held at The Market restaurant. Afterward, they can opt to join the “Sunset Paint and Sip” activity at the beachfront gardens.
