Hotel group sees 80% occupancy during Holy Week
The Philippine Hotel Owners Association Inc. (PHOA) anticipates an 80% occupancy rate during this year’s Holy Week, driven by increased travel to beach destinations.
“Last-minute bookings, especially from Thursday to Saturday, may also drive demand for city hotels, particularly from the staycation market,” PHOA Executive Director Benito C. Bengzon Jr. told BusinessWorld on Tuesday. PHOA is non-profit organization with 206 hotel members nationwide.
He attributed the increased bookings to travelers taking advantage of discounts and promotions offered during the break.
Some prefer staying in a three-star hotel with a pool as a cheaper option, he said.
According to the latest consumer trends study led by the travel platform Klook, domestic travel is projected to reach 92% this year. Tagaytay, Baguio, Boracay, and Palawan are the preferred domestic travel spots.
Filipinos, or “balikbayans,” travel in large groups since it is cheaper and helps to reduce booking expenses. PHOA said its members’ guests are mostly families with kids and young adults.
Similarly, Klook found that Filipinos preferred traveling in large groups of three to six people.
Despite the hotel group’s optimism for tourism recovery, it said booking and revenue figures are far from their pre-pandemic levels.
He cited the recorded foreign arrivals of 5.5 million in 2023, according to the Department of Tourism (DoT), which is below the 8.2 million international visitors in 2019.
The Philippine Statistics Authority saw 102 million domestic trips from 2022 to mid-2023, with P1.5 trillion in domestic tourism expenditure.
As of March 1, the DoT has recorded 1.2 million total visitor arrivals this year.
According to Mr. Bengzon, guests can expect higher rates this year due to inflation.
“Despite the increased costs of labor, utilities, and direct expenses, the hotel aims to maintain accessibility for its customers, especially for leisure travelers during peak seasons, such as Holy Week,” he said.
PHOA has also observed that guests prefer booking through digital travel platforms such as Agoda and Booking.com, and their stays typically span two to three days. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante