In May 31, 2004 the Malay Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry was founded by 28 members made up of various resorts, hotels restaurants and other business establishments engaged in tourism in the island of Boracay. It was later, in July 23, 2004, that the Chamber officially changed its name to Boracay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (BCCI) and became an accredited member of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the umbrella organization of all chambers in the country. BCCI was awarded the “Most Outstanding Young Chamber for 2006 by the PCCI during the Philippine Business Conference held in Manila last November 2006.  Currently, Boracay Chamber has 42 regular members and its membership continues to grow in numbers.

ADVOCACIES

Environmental protection and capability building for the sustainable development of tourism in Boracay is the underlying philosophy of the Boracay Chamber in its advocacies. The Chamber’s main advocacies include environmental protection and proper waste management. These require immediate action and solutions to preserve the beauty of the island, the source of every stakeholder’s existence. BCCI believes that businesses and enterprises can exist and flourish with social responsibility towards the environment and the community it is in. In line with this, BCCI also strongly advocates policy making, trade and investments promotions, events management, and infrastructure projects that would support its mission of sustainable development. 

In 2004 the Boracay Chamber identified solid waste management, water & sewerage connection, watershed reforestation and the problem of flooding in central part of the island as major environmental concerns that the BCCI could help address and  catalyze groups into action. This resulted in a successful project with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) which provided funds for the BCCI/Pearl2 Project (page is in the making - no link yet). Today, Boracay Island has three Material Recovery Facilities, which have become models of solid waste management in other municipalities in the province of Aklan. The BCCI/Pearl2 project has also made the Boracay Chamber and the Department of Tourism partners and today BCCI has several projects ongoing with the DOT.

The Boracay Chamber also provides business development services to its members through training programs on human resource development, management and consultancy as well as capability building workshops, dissemination of information on important issues affecting the island and its stakeholders. The BCCI also represents the business sector in the island in a number of government bodies tasked with the formulation and implementation of policies affecting Boracay both local and national.