Domestic tourism on the rise – NSO

MANILA, Philippines - Four in 10 Filipinos who are 15 years old and above traveled within the country in 2012, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said.

“Based on the 2012 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors, an estimated 25.7 million Filipinos who are 15 years old and above had traveled to any place within the country from April to September 2012,” the statistics agency said in a report posted on its website.

The survey, which covered 12,500 sample households, was conducted in November 2012 by the NSO with the Department of Tourism to collect data on domestic tourism and outbound travel of Filipinos during the six-month reference period.

The NSO said the 25.7 million domestic visitors represented 39.2 percent of the total Filipinos who were 15 years old and over in 2012.

“On the average, a domestic traveler had two trips during the past six months,” the statistics agency said.

The survey showed there were more female domestic travelers as they accounted for 52.2 percent of the number, while male travelers made up the balance or 47.8 percent.

Out of the 25.7 million domestic travelers, 27.9 percent were in the age group 15 to 24, while 25.8 percent were in the age group 25 to 34.

The two age groups combined made up more than half or 53.7 percent of the total domestic travelers.

Those in ages 35 to 44 years comprised 19.4 percent, while those in ages 45 to 54 years accounted for 14.4 percent.

By destination, the most frequently visited place was the National Capital Region with 1.5 million visitors or 15.7 percent of the total domestic visitors going there during their most recent trip mainly for pleasure or vacation.

Among the long holiday weekends, the most preferred period for domestic travels were Rizal Day and New Year wherein nearly half of the domestic travelers traveled mainly for pleasure or vacation.

When asked for the reason of their most recent trip, 41 percent of the respondents said it is to visit friends or relatives or attend family gatherings.

The other commonly cited purpose was for pleasure or vacation with 36.7 percent of domestic travelers citing such.

In terms of planning the trip, most domestic travelers preferred to arrange their own trips, with 98 percent of respondents choosing to come up with their own tour and only 1.3 percent availing of package tours.

Domestic travelers who arranged their most recent independent trip irrespective of purpose, spent an average of P1,563.

Independent travelers whose main purpose for taking the trip was for pleasure or vacation spent more with the average amount at P1,818.

“Most of them spent on transportation and food and beverages,” the NSO said.

The average expenditure of travelers who had paid for a package tour regardless of purpose was at P8,372, while those who had paid for a package tour and whose main purpose of travel was for pleasure or vacation reported an average expenditure of P11,870.

“Aside from the package tour cost, a large proportion of the package tour travelers spent additional expenses on shopping and food and beverage,” the NSO said.

The NSO noted that six in every 10 (60.3 percent) of the domestic travelers did not stay overnight in the places visited during their most recent trip.

Those who stayed overnight accounted for 39.7 percent and  majority of them spent one to three nights in the places visited during their most recent trip.

The NSO added that most of those who stayed overnight were in the house of relatives or friends.

The survey also showed that for the April to September 2012 period, there were 274,000 Filipinos who traveled to other countries.

Of the estimate, more than half or 52.8 percent were females and 63 percent were 25 to 54 years of age.

“The top four foreign destinations were  Malaysia, Singapore, China and Thailand,” the NSO said.