Revenge travel is real for Filipinos.
With international borders now open following the easement of COVID-19 restrictions, many Filipinos are quenching their thirst to travel.
Google data showed that Asia is the go-to region for Filipinos when it comes to travel.
The top countries they are searching for on the search engine are Japan, Thailand, the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea.
Alejandro Cartagena and Jet dela Cruz via Unsplash)
Japan seemed to be a favorite as it appeared 22 times in the top ten lists of countries Google studied with the “Land of the Rising Sun” topping seven of those rosters.
Japanese ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko was delighted to learn that Filipinos are interested in his home country.
“Happy to find out that Filipino people are interested in Japan! Can’t wait for those clicks and searches turn into more Pinoy at our airports. Fancy a trip there this summer? Tara, punta tayo!” the envoy tweeted.
Happy to find out that Filipino people are interested in Japan! 🤩✨️ Can't wait for those clicks and searches turn into more Pinoy at our airports. ✈️ Fancy a trip there this summer? 😉🏖 Tara, punta tayo!✨ https://t.co/3jRhYBLXzX
— Ambassador of Japan in the Philippines (@AmbJPNinPH) May 19, 2023
With Japan, Thailand, and South Korea on the top 5 list of Pinoys, around 70% of the sites they prefer to visit are in the Asia Pacific region. Of this, a third of them are eyeing to go to Southeast Asian tourist destinations such as Bangkok, the top city, followed by Bali and Singapore.
Inbound travel
For inbound travel in the first quarter of 2023, on the other hand, Google found that non-resident visitors of the country are mostly from the US, Japan, Canada, Australia and United Arab Emirates.
They are mostly visiting the following places:
- Sundowners Beach Villas in Zambales
- Igorot Stone Kingdom in Benguet
- Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati
- National Museum of Natural History in Manila
Meanwhile, for those who are still looking for places to visit, Google Flights learned that the following destinations are” most-searched” for the months of June to August 2023. These are some places you may want to consider on your next trip:
| Top 10 destinations on Google Flight Searches | |
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Top int’l, local tourist destinations visited by Pinoys, according to Travel Pulse
In March, the local subsidiary of the travel and experiences platform, Klook Philippines, released a report revealing that Filipinos are inclined to travel to neighboring countries such as Singapore, Japan and most especially Hong Kong because of its proximity and no visa requirement.
Bookings on its platform showed that there was a 230% increase month-on-month from December 2022 to January 2022 in relation to Hong Kong, after it opened for tourism. It also recorded a double-digit growth from February to March.
The report learned that Filipinos prefer longer travel durations with six to nine days stay (44%) being the most popular, followed by three to five days (40%), ten or more days (38%) and one to two days (15%).
Most experiences they are booking are at theme parks, watersports and hotels.
Klook said bookings for domestic destinations and experiences are also picking up. Among the preferred destinations locally are Boracay, Manila, Tagaytay, Cebu, Clark, and Subic.
In Boracay, the platform said overall bookings for water activities rose by 75% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Of this, 70% of the revenue came from domestic bookings.
Aside from these, bookings on Manila Ocean Park and Ocean Park, with systems powered by Klook through Flickket, also saw a double increase in sales compared to the previous year. Sky Ranch Tagaytay also sold more than 50,000 tickets due to Klook’s instant confirmation, and open-dated calendars leading to a tripling of its monthly sales.
Michelle Ho, general manager for Klook Philippines and Thailand attributed the promising figures and sales to the digitalization of the tourism industry.
“Travel has become even more accessible to consumers now that more people are becoming digital-savvy, and we believe this digital transformation is contributing greatly to the acceleration of tourism growth in the region,” Ho shared.
“We are cognizant of the contributions we are able to make in helping grow domestic tourism given our platform and user base. A lot of locals, both individuals and merchants, rely on tourism for their livelihood and we are eager to help domestic travelers discover more sources of joy in the country, and businesses to make their products and services more accessible to our users,” she added.
Klook offers travel options to 1,5000 destinations as well as 515,000 curated experiences and activities.
The company has been in the Philippines for five years. It has so far amassed close to 600 experiences and activities across 21 cities in the country, ranging from accommodations, entertainment, dining, and transportation. —Rosette Adel
