LOCAL tourism continues to rise in the Philippines, even as various overseas travel locations are now accepting visitors as the global pandemic situation subsides, according to a senior executive at an online marketplace provider for vacations and vacations. short-term experiences.
“It’s clear that amid the reopening of international destinations, domestic travel remains a priority for Filipinos, and off-the-beaten-path destinations are growing in popularity,” said Airbnb’s head of public policy. Southeast Asia, India and Hong Kong. & Taiwan Mich Goh said during their recent press briefing in Makati.
Citing their new search data for the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2019, she revealed that Baguio “is pretty much at the top” of the list of places they search for on their platform, followed by Quezon City and Tagaytay.
Regarding the biggest increase in customer searches on Airbnb, she noted that Airbnb leads the way from April to June 2022 compared to the similar pre-pandemic period three years ago. This was followed by Dumaguete and then Calaca.
Other popular destinations for domestic travellers, she said, are outside the usual tourism hotspots, including Guagua in Pampanga, Unisan in Quezon and Jala-jala in Rizal province.
Longer trips continue to be a major trend, Goh said, referring to their financial results for the second quarter of this year which show that long-term stays of 28 days or more are Airbnb’s hottest category. fastest growing in terms of travel time than before the Covid-19 crisis hit the country. and the rest of the world, up 25% compared to a year ago and almost 90% compared to the second quarter of 2019.
In another survey they conducted earlier this year, she pointed out that more than a third of the 250 local stay-at-home guests surveyed who booked accommodations listed by Airbnb in the last seven months of 2021 said that they had stayed there to travel and work remotely.
“People are traveling much more flexibly, whether it’s because they now have the flexibility to work from other locations or in a hybrid model,” explained the head of public policy for Southeast Asia. East, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb.
Other emerging trends they discovered are the tendency for tourists to explore many new destinations while becoming more aware when traveling of their positive impact on the economy, culture, society, environment and community they visit. -30- –
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