Cebu among top three local destinations in Q1
Cebu has emerged as one of the top three domestic destinations visited by travelers in the first quarter of 2023 based on AirAsia Philippine's latest report.
The low-cost airline mentioned Cebu, together with Boracay, and Tacloban as the top three domestic destinations based on its flight booking for the first three months of 2023.
Meanwhile, Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul are the three most booked international destinations among Filipinos for their out-of-country travels in 2023.
Seats sold for guests traveling from 1 to 31 March 2023 were recorded at 475,000 which is already a 95 percent increase from the same period during the previous year.
”AirAsia’s competitive pricing is still seen as among the top motivators for guests choosing to fly with us. Our effort of mounting different online and onground travel promos is our way of providing the best value for our guests' hardearned money,” said AirAsia Philippines communications and public affairs country head Steve Dailisan.
To sustain this momentum and to excite more travelers to book their flights earlier, Dailisan announced AirAsia Philippines another round of P1SO sale.
Available for booking from 13 to 19 March, guests can enjoy a PHP1 one-way base fare to Boracay, Bohol, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod, Davao, Kalibo, Cagayan de Oro, and Roxas from Manila, and Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro from Cebu-Mactan International Airport.
For PHP511 to PHP2,811, guests can enjoy international destinations such as Macao, Taipei, Bangkok, Bali, Tokyo, and Osaka for travels from 4 September 2023 to 13 August 2024.
“We advise our guests to plan ahead and book their flights earlier to enjoy affordable rates. We also invite our guests to regularly visit our website and download the airasia SuperApp for exciting deals on hotels and activities,” Dailisan added.
The Department of Tourism (DoT) said it expects domestic tourism to make a full recovery this year with international tourism following in 2024 after travel disruptions caused by the pandemic.
“Even as the pandemic set back our gains, the momentum for recovery and growth is already here. We see domestic tourism recovering to 2019 levels this year, and international tourism next year,” Tourism Secretary Ma. Esperanza Christina G. Frasco said in a report.
“The possibilities for Philippine tourism are endless. With your continued support we will accomplish our goals for a tourism industry that is a major economic pillar,” she added.
In 2022, the Philippines recorded 2.65 million international visitor arrivals. The DoT is targeting 4.8 million international visitors this year, still some distance from the 8.26 million international arrivals in 2019.