Metro Manila is top destination for domestic tourists

According to the results of the 2016 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) released by the Department of Tourism (DOT) recently, 245,000 Filipinos also aged 15 and above travelled outside the country during the same period.

Philippines -  At least three out of five or 59 percent of Filipinos aged 15 and above travelled independently within the country from April 1 to Sept. 30 last year, and the Metro Manila turned out to be the most visited place for pleasure and vacation.
According to the results of the 2016 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors (HSDV) released by the Department of Tourism (DOT) recently, 245,000 Filipinos also aged 15 and above travelled outside the country during the same period.

China, including Hong Kong, was the top country visited among outbound travellers with an estimated share of 28.1 percent, followed by Malaysia (10.7 percent), Japan (9.7 percent), USA (9.5 percent) and Singapore (8.3 percent).
After NCR, other top destinations were the provinces of Negros Occidental, Pangasinan, Cavite, Quezon, Bohol, Cebu, Camarines Sur, Laguna and Leyte. 
In select cities in the NCR, including Manila, Quezon City, Mandaluyong, Caloocan and Parañaque, an estimated 3.4 million individuals travelled during the same period.
“About 99 percent of them arranged their trips independently, and less than one percent availed at least one domestic package tour,” the survey showed.

It said each domestic traveller made two trips, on average, during the reference period. There were more female than male domestic travellers, with a sex ratio of  93:100. Median age of domestic travellers was 34, with about 52 percent aged 15 to 34 years. 
According to the survey, about two-fifths of the domestic visitors intended to go for pleasure or vacation, while three in 10 were visiting friends or relatives, and six percent went on religious trip or pilgrimage.

“About half of the travellers who went for pleasure or vacation stayed in home of friends or relatives during their most recent trip, while about one-fourth opted to stay in resorts and about one in 10 lodged in hotels,” it said.

Based on the survey, a majority (79 percent) of independent domestic visitors spent an average of P476 on land transportation, and P5,179 on air transportation from origin to destination. About 55 percent of them spent on shopping spree, 42 percent on food and beverage, and one-fifth on local transport.

About one-third of those who availed themselves of package tour paid for their most recent trip. Nearly two-thirds had paid for an item in addition to the price paid for the package tour, the survey said.
Three in 10 domestic travellers stayed overnight in the places they visited during their most recent trip. About 40 percent of them had stayed for two to three nights. In select NCR cities, three of four domestic travellers were day visitors in the places they visited.

Christmas Day (49 percent) topped the list of long weekend holidays in the past 12 months preceding the survey period, followed by All Saints’ Day (40.7 percent) and Holy Week (27.6 percent).
For those who travelled abroad, the number of female travellers was about equal to that of male travellers. About 19 percent of the outbound travellers came from select NCR cities.
The median age of outbound travellers was 45 and one in five of them belonged in either the 35 to 44 and 55 to 64 age groups.
An outbound traveller made one trip, spent around P50,800 and stayed for17 nights, on average.