CEBU is the third most visited destination in the Philippines among Filipino travelers, according to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
The 2022 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors revealed that Cebu accounted for six percent of the total domestic trips in 2022.
The National Capital Region was the most popular destination for pleasure or vacation, attracting 10.4 percent of domestic trips in 2022. Pangasinan came in second, representing 6.4 percent of the total domestic trips.
Rounding out the list were Benguet (4.4 percent), Laguna (four percent), Batangas (3.8 percent), Quezon (3.6 percent), Albay (3.6 percent), South Cotabato (3.2 percent) and Rizal (three percent).
The survey showed that 39.1 percent of Filipinos aged 15 years and older traveled within the country from January to September.
Their main purpose for travel was for pleasure or vacation (39.7 percent), followed by visiting friends or relatives (32.9 percent) and medical/health reasons (11.6 percent).
Most of the domestic travelers, regardless of their travel purpose, stayed in the homes of their relatives/friends (58.7 percent) while some stayed in resorts (17.2 percent) and hotels (9.7 percent).
Spending
In terms of spending, domestic travelers spent an average of P2,528.08. They mostly spent on roundtrip transportation (55.5 percent), shopping (51.5 percent), and local transportation (51.1 percent).
For those whose main purpose of the trip was pleasure or vacation, they spent an average of P3,004.11. The top expenditure items in 2022 were shopping (65.3 percent), food and beverage (58.2 percent), and roundtrip transportation (48.6 percent).
Moreover, about one in every three most recent trips made in 2022 were overnight trips. On average, overnight visitors stayed for four nights. The majority of these trips lasted between one and three nights, accounting for 71.7 percent of most recent trips in 2022.
The survey also revealed that the total number of long weekend holiday trips in 2022 was 2.75 million, with Election Day leading the list with the most number of long weekend holiday trips at 63 percent and Holy Week being the second most popular holiday at 19 percent.
Outbound travel
Meanwhile, about 113,000 Filipinos aged 15 years and older traveled outside the country.
Among the main purpose of trips, majority (62.4 percent) were for pleasure or vacation, followed by business or professional work (22.3 percent). By age classification, most (47.2 percent) outbound travelers belong to the 25 to 34 age group, with a median age of 32 years old.
Singapore was reported as the most popular destination, with an estimated 30 percent of travelers visiting the country, followed by Thailand (19.1 percent) and Malaysia (eight percent). On average, an outbound traveler spent around P38,155.53 for an average length of stay of six nights per outbound travel. / KOC