"Buti naman naisip nyong bumisita dito (It's good that you thought of visiting here)." Our guide made the remark midway through a tour of Culion's main tourism area, lamenting that the sleepy island still rarely receives outsiders.

Culion was the site of the world's largest leper colony in the 20th century, where research ultimately produced a cure for a disease that had been misunderstood and feared for at least 4,000 years.1 The island's distinctive character centers on its archives, which were inscribed in the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Memory of the World Register for Asia and the Pacific in 2018, recognized "as one of Asia-Pacific's most important documentary collections."2 The collection may eventually be considered for the global list, which currently includes only four Philippine treasures: the Philippine Paleographs of Hanunoo, Buid, Tagbanua, and Palawan; the radio broadcast of the Philippine People Power Revolution; the Jose Maceda Collection of Philippine traditional music; and the Presidential Papers of Manuel L. Quezon.3

Even from a distance, Culion's singular history is visible in the huge Commonwealth seal — bearing the monogram PHS, for Philippine Health Service, the predecessor of today's Department of Health — that adorns Bundok Aguila, towering over the seaport. Yet for reasons that remain unclear, this distinction is lost on most prospective visitors.

Despite sharing the same pristine waters and marine environment as Palawan's more developed, world-renowned beaches, Culion has been eclipsed by better-known neighbors such as Coron and El Nido. Palawan, the province to which Culion belongs, recorded 2.126 million domestic and foreign visitors last year (1.085 million in the first semester alone). While Culion's latest tally was not immediately available, a 2022 ranking placed it eighth among 10 areas whose tourist data are tracked by Palawan's Provincial Tourism Office. Puerto Princesa City, El Nido, Coron, and San Vicente, in descending order, regularly dominate the list, reflecting tourists' preference for the province's beaches, diving sites, and other natural attractions.4

The Weight of Stigma

Local residents attributed the island's weak tourism numbers to a persistent social stigma. "Buti hindi kayo natakot pumunta dito (It's good that you were not afraid to come here)," said a former patient who greeted us in a rundown healthcare building constructed under U.S. rule. This endures despite the government having declassified leprosy as a public health problem — albeit rather belatedly — in 1998.5 Culion itself was deemed to have met clinical criteria for leprosy elimination under the government's National Leprosy Control Program in 2006, coinciding with the centenary of the island's establishment as a leprosarium in 1906.

In an effort to counteract this negative image, Culion's local government passed Municipal Resolution 2025-2361 in September 2025. The legislation sought to rebrand the island by prohibiting the use of historical labels such as "The island of the living dead" and the "Land of no return" in promotional materials and public documents, replacing them with the tagline "Paradise regained." The ban does not apply to historical and academic contexts, including museum displays, documentaries, research, and educational materials.6

It remains uncertain whether this recent rebranding has succeeded in drawing more visitors to Culion. There is no known study proving that people outside Palawan stigmatize leprosy, and it is doubtful that many younger travelers — who have proven adventurous in their choice of destinations — are even aware of Culion's unique history.

While rebranding to present the island in a more positive light may have merit, localities benefit most when they leverage distinctive features as a competitive edge over attractions they share with neighboring destinations, such as beaches and World War II shipwreck dive sites. Sites associated with difficult histories — from Hiroshima's Peace Memorial to Poland's Auschwitz-Birkenau — have demonstrated that heritage tourism, when handled with sensitivity and authenticity, can draw substantial visitor numbers while deepening public understanding. Culion's story of medical breakthrough and human resilience offers a similarly compelling narrative that no neighboring island can replicate.

Culion's economy consists mainly of fishery, agriculture-related activities, and handicrafts, including dried fish and bottled seafood production, as well as sawali (woven bamboo wall mats) and basket-weaving. The island also hosts two pearl farms.7 The municipality stands to gain substantially from a revitalized tourism drive, given its 24.8% poverty incidence in 2023 — well above the 15.5% national rate, though representing a decline of more than a third from the 40.2% figure Culion posted in 2021.8 As noted in a December 2024 column, tourism's multiplier effect diversifies local economies, sparking small-business formation and expansion, generating new jobs, infusing visitor spending into the local economy, and boosting both business and tax revenues.9

Maximizing Heritage Tourism

How, then, can Culion harness the potential of its unique history to complement more conventional attractions such as dive sites?

The island has already taken a significant step by establishing its museum and archives in May 2006, with support from the Sasakawa Health Foundation, a Japan-based organization founded in 1974 with the principal objective of eliminating leprosy.10 Located within the complex of the Culion Sanitarium and General Hospital, the museum presents a visual history of the leprosarium and daily life on the island under the shadow of the disease. Displays include medical implements — among them imposing glass syringes with remarkably long, thick needles — along with other equipment and samples of the medicines developed there. A humid room reserved for researchers is stacked nearly to the ceiling with boxes of original island records.

The museum is reasonably clean and has a functional public washroom, though both could be improved. Signs of insufficient funding were evident during a family visit: the air conditioning units were not functioning properly — perhaps a matter of filter maintenance, but even that basic task requires dedicated manpower.

While I am not an archivist by profession, it is well established that humidity damages historical records — the very materials recognized by the UNESCO registry. An item or collection may be removed from the registry if documents deteriorate to the point that they no longer meet the criteria. Without proper care, Culion risks losing this distinction even before its archives are considered for inclusion in the international registry. Protecting this core heritage treasure must come first. The Philippine government, through the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the National Archives, maintains conservation programs that could potentially assist, though engaging such support typically requires formal requests and demonstrated institutional readiness.

Expanding the Social Media Presence

Culion's Office of Municipal Tourism maintains an official Facebook page with 11,000 followers.11 While this is a worthwhile and necessary effort, the page lacks some basic information that could be presented in a more engaging format appealing to all age groups. For instance, the comprehensive details found in the printed brochure distributed at the pier could be uploaded and pinned so that the content is not buried beneath subsequent posts.

The page should move beyond occasional announcements and brief features of local establishments by actively engaging followers — encouraging them to share their own experiences. Promoting "fun" on-site public events at least three months in advance during peak seasons would further foster engagement.

Hotels, inns, and other accommodations, as well as commercial establishments, should maintain their own social media pages or websites where prospective visitors can make inquiries and bookings. Notably, the contact details on the municipal tourism office's official printed brochure are barely legible.

A scattering of travel vlogs exists online. Culion's tourism planners would benefit from reviewing these for insights into improving the visitor experience — many address basic concerns, such as the lack of online information about the island's ferry system and the inconvenient distance between the ferry ticket office and the pier itself.12 Even complaints should be treated as valuable input, as there is always room for improvement when competing with neighboring destinations. Finding ways to engage travel bloggers and vloggers on a regular basis would further boost the island's visibility.

Regional Tour Packages and Beyond

While Culion on its own may not yet be compelling enough to draw substantial visitor numbers, it could increase tourist arrivals by becoming part of regional tour packages — similar to how the 17th-century Twin Forts of Romblon are included in an international luxury cruise itinerary linking Manila, Romblon, Coron, and Vigan with Osaka and Tokyo. This underscores the need for closer collaboration with tour operators. Corregidor and Fort Drum could similarly benefit from such a packaged framework.

Other strategies include encouraging and accommodating student tours, arranging for neighboring resorts and domestic airports to display well-designed promotional posters, and securing support from the national government through the Department of Tourism's rotating, region-specific monthly promotion campaigns.

Finally, in an age where "Instagrammable" appeal drives travel decisions, there is a clear need to enhance the island's scenic spots — beginning with garbage-free ports, since the port is the first thing visitors see and smell. General cleanliness should be the starting point, as flies that occasionally detract from otherwise succulent and affordable seafood meals at local establishments and neighboring resorts can likely be traced to inadequate waste management, a common issue in coastal environments.

Beyond basic upkeep, selected locations along the heritage walk path could be enhanced for social media photography. These spots could feature well-designed, eye-catching markers — potentially created by local artists — complete with QR codes linking to concise explanations of each site's history and significance.

These suggestions aside, the broader question is whether Culion can serve as a test case for how localities leverage their unique histories to become compelling destinations. The Department of Tourism has identified cultural and heritage tourism as a growth area under its National Tourism Development Plan, and several municipalities — from Vigan in Ilocos Sur to Taal in Batangas — have shown that preserved heritage, when paired with adequate infrastructure and promotion, can anchor sustainable local economies. Should Culion's approach succeed, the island could offer a similarly instructive model for heritage-driven tourism development.

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Wilfredo G. Reyes was editor-in-chief of BusinessWorld from 2020 through 2023.