Whale sharks in the town of Oslob, southern Cebu | Stock photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu remains a favorite spot among tourists, especially local ones.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on May 14, 2024 released the results of their 2022 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors.
In it, PSA revealed that Cebu remained one of the top 10 destinations for domestic travelers seeking leisure and vacation in the country.
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The island province accounts for six percent of total domestic leisure trips in the country in 2022, ranking third in the list, state statisticians reported.
It was also a favorite among domestic travelers in 2021, the same data from PSA showed.
Cebu and South Cotabato are the only areas in the list that do not belong in Luzon.
The top destination is still the National Capital Region (NCR) or Metro Manila, accounting for 10.4 percent. It was followed by Pangasinan with 6.4 percent.
Aside from Metro Manila, the other top destinations in 2022 for local tourists included Benguet, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Albay, South Cotabato and Rizal.
Domestic and outbound travel
According to the PSA, approximately 11 million households in the Philippines received domestic visitors in 2022.
They also noted an increase in the number of domestic travelers from 2021 to 2022. It can be recalled that the Philippine government lifted all Covid-19-related restrictions in February of 2022.
However, majority – or 60.9 percent of Filipinos, age 15 years and above, have not traveled in any parts of the country.
On the other hand, more Filipinos travel for vacation or pleasure purposes in 2022 compared to 2021, which was still the height of the pandemic.
Majority of domestic travelers also prefer staying in the homes of relatives/friends than in resorts and hotels.
In terms of outbound travels, PSA recorded over 113,000 Filipinos aged 15 years old and above who did trips abroad, with Singapore emerging as the top destination.