Philippine travel agencies are bullish on outbound tourism prospects in 2024 and expect a 20-percent to 25-percent increase in bookings and traffic.
PTAA chairperson Patria Chiong said the industry is “optimistic and confident that this year will exceed the target of the DOT [Department of Tourism].”
“This is not just ‘revenge tourism’. People are raring to go ever since COVID was lifted. And not just domestically, but internationally,” Chiong said in a pre-event briefing Thursday for the 31st Travel Tour Expo (TTE) and the 9th International Travel Trade Expo 2024 on Feb. 2 to 4, 2024 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.
“We are pooling together our expertise under one roof to provide Filipino travelers with the best advice and make them realize that there are so many options for them. PTAA’s collective wisdom and many years of experience make this possible,” said PTAA president Evangeline Tankiang-Manotok.
Data from the DOT showed there were 3.89 million outbound travelers from the Philippines in 2023. Filipinos populated the data with 98.07 percent or 3.85 million, while foreign nationals accounted for 1.93 percent or 75,226 travelers.
PTAA vice president for outbound Evelyn Bondagjy noted a surge in outbound travel in the last few months of 2024. She attributed this to the increased appetite for travel by families especially during the long weekends and the desire of the working class for rest and recreation.
“There’s been a lot of offers from both the carriers and tour operators to travel more affordably. This also gives the travel sector a chance to recover losses from the lockdown,” she said.
Bondagjy said the surge in travel was not unique to the Philippines, as other countries experienced the same level of increased confidence to travel. This encouraged some countries to put up new airports to accommodate the increasing volume of passengers.
Many Filipinos booked for flights European countries like Spain, Portugal and Turkey. Travel agencies also observed a rebound of travel to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Singapore.
TTE 2024 will be a marketplace for travel deal seekers with more than 200 exhibitors and 702 booths that include airlines, domestic and international travel agencies and tour operators, hotels and resorts, cruise liners and shipping, merchandisers and others.
TTE organizers aim to generate a foot traffic of 95,000 to 100,000 visitors in the three-day event.
