FILIPINOS continue to be cautious about traveling, even domestically, and consider the safety of a destination as the highest priority in making vacation plans this summer.
In the latest survey on summer 2023 domestic travel in Southeast Asia of Milieu Insight, a leading consumer research firm in the region, while 76 percent of the 2,500 respondents were eager to travel in their own countries, “3 in 10 respondents from the Philippines still have high levels of concerns about Covid-19 safety, the highest across the region.”
The firm said this was likely due to the reported rise in Covid cases in the country, which now stand at 7,037, according to recent data from the Department of Health. Although there have been no reported deaths so far, Covid wards in government hospitals have been reopened.
Aside from Covid-19 safety (69 percent of 500 respondents), other top factors Filipinos consider in their summer travel plans are the cost of the whole vacation (58 percent), travel spots and sceneries (47 percent), weather of the destination (46 percent), and variety of places to eat at (40 percent).
2-3 domestic trips this year
The survey also showed Filipinos will take anywhere from three to four days (45 percent) or five to seven days (27 percent) on their next vacation, which will likely be at a beach destination (5 in 10 respondents), reflecting a popular choice across the region. In the Philippines, Boracay is where most Filipinos are headed (54 percent), followed by Baguio (46 percent), and Palawan, another beach destination (41 percent).
Most Filipinos plan to take two to three domestic trips this year, reflecting the regional average. In their summer vacation, Filipinos ranked foodtripping as the highest, at 58 percent, among their activities. This was followed by swimming (51 percent); relaxing at a cafe, tourist spot, etc. (44 percent); touring (43 percent), and relaxing at a hotel, airBnB, etc. (25 percent).
Legacy carrier Philippine Airlines leads Filipinos’ choice for airline bookings this summer at 76 percent, followed by Cebu Pacific (67 percent), and Philippines AirAsia (49 percent).
Milieu Insights conducts its surveys via its mobile app, choosing 500 respondents aged 20-65 per country, across income segments. Aside from the Philippines, other countries surveyed were Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia. The summer domestic travel survey was conducted in April 2023.
Naga was most popular destination in 2022
AS this developed, the Department of Tourism (DOT) reported there were close to 40 million overnight travelers in the country’s destinations last year. Of the total, the data showed, some 37.17 million were domestic travelers, about 2.7 million were foreign tourists, and 126,218 were overseas Filipinos, or Philippine passports holders permanently residing abroad.
Of all the destinations, Naga City was the most popular with 2 million overnight visitors last year, majority of whom (1.95 million) were domestic travelers. It was followed by Boracay Island at 1.8 million, of which 1.6 million were domestic travelers; Pasay City at 1.25 million, some 72 percent of whom were domestic travelers; Cebu City at 1.06 million, with 80 percent domestic travelers; and Baguio City at 1.04 million with almost 100 percent domestic travelers.
Other popular destinations last year were the Clark special economic zone with 926,372 visitors; Iloilo City with 752,301; and Bacolod with 618,682.
On a regional basis, Calabarzon and the Bicol Region received the most number of overnight visitors last year with some 6.09 million and 4.82 million, respectively, likely due their accessibility via open roads. The National Capital Region received 4.7 million overnight visitors, followed by Western Visayas at 4.28 million visitors, boosted by travelers to Boracay. Other favored regional destinations were Central Visayas with 3.6 million visitors and the Davao Region with 2.15 million visitors.
Images from Milieu Insight, April 2023