What OFWs look for
Global real estate website Lamudi recently studied the behavior of overseas Filipino workers while searching online for property.
Lamudi has been making online real estate hunting easy, with around 70,000 property listings and close to 800,000 users every month.
Around five million users visited the Lamudi website in 2016 and close to 25 percent are based overseas. The top 10 countries where overseas traffic to Lamudi.com.ph are coming from are the United States (which accounted for six percent of all users in 2016, or about 300,000 website users), followed by the United Arab Emirates with about two percent of all users or around 95,000, and then Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Qatar, which are countries where there are sizeable Filipino communities, Lamudi said.
The report revealed that house and lot came out as the most searched property type for all 10 countries (61.29 percent of all searches), followed by condominium (18.11 percent) and land (15.08 percent). Commercial properties and apartments accounted for 3.65 and 1.87 percent of all searches in 2016, respectively, Lamudi said.
In terms of preferred destinations among Filipinos working abroad, it was revealed that the top 10 most searched cities include Quezon City, Cebu, Makati, Davao, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Tagaytay, Pasig, Taguig, and Baguio, respectively.
Lamudi said that the reasons why those locations emerged at the top may vary, but it can be safe to say that some OFWs buy to get a permanent residence for their families left behind, while others are looking for areas that can be allocated to family members (e.g., college-bound students) in the metro.
It added that many might also be looking to buy with the intention of having a retirement property in the future, hence, the presence of touristy areas in the top 10 such as Cebu, Tagaytay and Baguio.
Lamudi is a leading online global property portal focusing exclusively on emerging markets. It offers sellers, buyers, landlords and renters a secure and easy-to-use online platform to find or list properties.
Lamudi was established in 2013 in Berlin, Germany, and it is currently available in Asia (the Philippines, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), Latin America (Mexico, Colombia and Peru), and the Middle East (Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).
The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) wants the government to review the Tax Reform and Acceleration and Inclusion Act (TRAIN) bill which has recently been approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives.
A total of 246 lawmakers voted in favor of TRAIN, with nine against and one abstention. The Senate has yet to approve it.
IBPAP supports the tax reform bill’s ability to increase the take home pay of the individual, but cautioned that in crafting the tax reform bill, it is important to study its impact on both businesses and individual taxpayers.
The group is asking the government to consider the negative impact on job creation that may happen, if the incentives of the IT-BPM industry are removed.
It explained that with the current model, there is flexible demand for the industry’s services allowing it to be competitive in the global market, and this is because the margin of difference is counterbalanced by the high quality service and talent the industry offers.
IBPAP warned that should the tax reform bill remove the current incentives of the industry, this will increase the price differential further, negatively impacting the industry’s competitiveness in the global market, as well as the growth trajectories outlined in Roadmap 2022.
More importantly, this would also impact job creation targets, including sectors who benefit from the 3.2 multiplier effect of the IT-BPM industry, it said.
The group explained that through the IT-BPM industry’s hub and spoke model to develop the sector and countryside, it has been contributing significantly to the growth of the middle class over the past decade.
It pointed out that per NEDA’s AmBisyon Natin 2040, strong growth coupled with efforts to reduce inequality can help eradicate poverty by 2040.
IBPAP added that with the IT-BPM industry subsectors growing between nine to 13 percent over the next six years all over the country, it could continue helping the government with the inclusive growth and poverty eradication goals of the TRAIN Bill.
But IBPAP stressed that the magnitude of growth would be highly dependent on maintaining the competitiveness of the Philippines as a major outsourcing destination and this could be done only by keeping the current incentives the IT-BPM industry receives.
Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s leading travel booking app for accommodation and flights, will be having another major sale this July 28 which promises huge deals on hotels and airfare.
Traveloka country manager Poch Cebalos said they are always looking to give their travelers the very best packages on hotels and flights, and the Traveloka one day flash sales are usually where they can get the very best deals.
It revealed that travelers will be able to get P1,206 off for hotel bookings in the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong and South Korea. The same discount also applies to domestic and international flights booked that day. Bookings for the July flash sale apply to all travel dates. The deals are available for the first 1500 transactions only.
Ceballos pointed out that travel can get expensive, and hotels and airfare add up quickly, but through huge deals in Traveloka, travel becomes more accessible and gives people the freedom to travel to their favorite destinations.
Unlike other booking apps, one can book both their flight and hotel on Traveloka which is a one-stop shop app that helps one find the best price for flights, hotels, and budget rooms, together with exclusive discounts and deals with no booking fee. All prices shown in the app include applicable taxes and surcharges and there are no hidden charges, the company assured.
It also explained that payment is flexible as travellers can use both offline and online methods using Visa, MasterCard, or via DragonPay, which accepts major banks like BPI, BDO, Metrobank, Chinabank, RCBC, UCPB and Landbank. They can also pay via Coins.ph wallet or overthe-counter at 7-Eleven, M. Lhuillier and Cebuana Lhuillier.
Traveloka, which has over 85 airline partners and more than 300,000 hotels across the world, can be accessed through desktop, mobile web, and mobile application (Android and Ios) anytime and anywhere. A secure payment system, various payment methods, an easy user experience, a 24hour call center service, and everyday low and transparent price without booking fees are the key services that Traveloka offers to customers, it said.
Successful tourism campaign: Department of Tourism Tokyo OIC Jerome Diaz recently welcomed Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo and Assistant Secretary Malou Japson, as well as the members of the Philippine Business Mission to Tokyo. Teo, at the opening of the three-day business meeting with Japanese top travel and tourism leaders, asked the latter to bring more Japanese tourists to the Philippines while encouraging Japanese businessmen to invest in hotels, resorts, theme parks, among others.
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