According to the most recent Airbnb data, hosts and guests are becoming important economic force multipliers in many Philippine locations and localities.
Despite a more than 70% decline in international visitor numbers as a result of the epidemic, Airbnb is reporting a significant uptick in both local and foreign guest visits throughout Southeast Asia, including the Philippines.
- Chinese tourists eager to travel to the Philippines
Chinese travelers are showing a rising interest in visiting a wider range of locations ever since China’s cross-border travel was reopened. Chinese tourists searching for accommodations on Airbnb have increased by more than 10 times in the Philippines year over year.
- The region’s domestic tourist industry is still expanding.
Domestic travel is still very common among local tourists even as international travel in Southeast Asia continues to improve. The number of nights booked on Airbnb in the Philippines more than doubled from 2020 to last year, although domestic travel remained the most popular option for residents in 2022.
“Domestic tourism has proven to be resilient in times of crisis and an option of a more immediate and positive economic impact to local economies,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager of Airbnb for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. A weekend getaway to a location close to home is not only simpler to organize, but also far less expensive. By offering a wider range of reasonably priced lodging in new locations, Airbnb has demonstrated that it can encourage domestic tourism. Thanks to Airbnb, visitors can now visit a lot more locations.
- Expanding tourism to newer cities and villages
Airbnb users stayed in more than 100,000 different cities and towns around the world in 2022. The top 10 Airbnb destinations with the most trips made up about 7% of all trips, down from 10% in 2019. By 2022, there were more than 25% more villages worldwide where visitors stayed than there were in 2012. This expansion of tourism to new and unique locations.
More than 13,000 towns and localities around the world have already had their first Airbnb booking since March 2020. Over 900 new towns and localities in the Philippines receive their first Airbnb reservation during this time.
Approximately 1 in 20 stays on Airbnb are booked using flexible search capabilities, which means that guests who book stays using these features are much less likely to stay in the most popular Airbnb destinations than guests who book stays using standard search. Globally, flexible travelers are about 23% less likely to stay in the top 20 Airbnb destinations.
In contrast to excessive travel to prominent destinations, which focuses tourism economically and geographically, distributed travel is more cheap, supports local economies and jobs, and immerses individuals in these areas. Airbnb is assisting in spreading tourists, money, and tourism benefits around Southeast Asia to fresh, in-demand locations. We are investing in solutions to address the problems that mass tourism is creating around the world, helping visitors learn about new places and giving people new sources of income.
Source- Travel daily