Philippines sees increase in hotel bookings from overseas in 2023 — report

MANILA, Philippines — Hotel bookings from overseas rose in the Philippines in 2023, a report on hotel booking trends by hotel channel manager SiteMinder found.

SiteMinder’s Hotel Booking Trends is an analysis of the bookings made by travellers for hotels in 20 of the world’s most established destinations.

According to the report released in February, the country logged more than 115 million hotel bookings, with overseas travelers accounting to 67% of the total volume of arrivals in the Philippines in 2023.

SiteMinder, a software platform containing world hotel booking data, said that this is a 33% increase from the previous year, also in line with the global average.

According to its report, Philippines also registered growth in hotel arrivals from the United States, Australia and South Korea, mirroring the top tourism market source reported by the Department of Tourism.

Last December, the DOT reported over five million international visitors in the Philippines in 2023. Of these, 4,658, 123 million or 91.88% are foreign tourists while 411,629 or 8.12% are overseas Filipinos workers.

The DOT said South Korea ranks as the top source market recording 1,341,029, followed by the United States with 836,694 visitors. Australia is also among the top five source market, contributing 238, 487 to the inbound tourism figures.

Meanwhile, the SiteMinder’s report also learned that the following are the top 12 booking sources for hotels in the Philippines. The ranking is based on the total gross revenue they generated via the software’s platform last year.

1. Booking.com
2. Agoda
3. Hotel websites (direct bookings)
4. Expedia Group
5. Trip.com
6. Hotelbeds
7. DidaTravel
8. WebBeds
9. Klook
10. Traveloka
11. Hostelworld Group
12. MG Bedbank

SiteMinder’s said that the figures indicated renewed confidence in international travel with the following changes in the hotel industry:

• Travelers are booking in advance with lengthened booking lead time stretching 19 to 29 days;
• Lowered cancellation rates, registering a decrease of 16%, approaching 2019 levels

SiteMinder’s chief growth officer, Trent Innes, said that because of these changes, the hotel industry must implement “dynamic” strategies to adapt to the changing behavior of travelers.

"We have certainly entered a new era of travel. Not only are behaviors and preferences changing, but the travelers, themselves. The global travel industry has long awaited the return of Chinese travelers and it is clear from our data that they are beginning to come back, alongside those from other source markets throughout Asia, such as India, Japan and South Korea. Hotels would do well to prepare for a change in the mix of travelers arriving at their doorstep, by revising their marketing strategies to reach the world’s fastest-growing travel sources and gaining intelligence on these potential customers to maximise their revenues," Innes said.

“We know through our data that travelers are booking further ahead than before. We also know through our own research that travelers are happy to spend money beyond the cost of their room, but that increased prices are forcing them to adapt by opting for package deals, as an example. It’s therefore vital that hoteliers are dynamic in the way they do business, to ensure they keep pace with their customers and understand how every customer touchpoint is a revenue opportunity,” he also said.