Airbnb sees strong travel interest to the Philippines among Southeast Asian travelers

Latest data from Airbnb reveals that Airbnb Hosts and guests are emerging as key drivers of economic activity in destinations and communities across the Philippines.

While the pandemic had caused unprecedented disruption to global tourism and international visitor numbers to plummet by more than 70 percent^[1], Airbnb is seeing a strong rebound in both international and domestic guest arrivals across the Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines.

Chinese travellers keen to visit the Philippines

Since the reopening of cross-border travel in China, Chinese travelers are increasingly expressing interest to visit a wider variety of destinations. The Philippines have recorded more than 10x increases in guest searches among Chinese travelers on Airbnb year-on-year.^[2]

Domestic tourism continues to grow across the region

As international travel continues to rebound across Southeast Asia, domestic travel remains extremely popular amongst local travellers. In the Philippines, nights booked on Airbnb more than doubled last year from 2020 and domestic travel continued to lead the way as the Philippines ranked as the #1 travel destination among locals in 2022^[3].

Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb’s General Manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said: “Domestic tourism has proved to be resilient in times of crisis and an option of a more immediate and positive economic impact to local economies. A weekend trip to a near destination to home is not only easier to plan, but also much more affordable. Airbnb has proven to be an option that can help support domestic tourism, by providing a greater variety of affordable accommodation in new destinations. Guests now have the ability to travel to many more places by using Airbnb.”

Spreading tourism to more new towns and cities

In 2022, Airbnb guests stayed in over 100,000 different cities and towns globally.^[4] The top 10 most-visited destinations on Airbnb accounted for around 7 percent of all trips, compared to 10 percent in 2019.^[5] The number of communities globally where guests stayed increased by over 25 percent in 2022 compared with five years ago, spreading tourism to new and different destinations.^[6]

Since March 2020, more than 13,000 towns and cities globally received their first booking on Airbnb.^[7] In the Philippines, more than 900 new towns and cities have their first booking on Airbnb during this period^[8].

New Airbnb data shows that guests booking stays using Airbnb’s flexible search features^[9] are significantly less likely to stay in the most popular destinations on Airbnb, compared to those booking via traditional search – around 1 in 20 stays on Airbnb are booked using flexible search features.^[10] Globally, flexible bookers are approximately 23 percent less likely to stay in the top 20 destinations on Airbnb.^[11]

Bajaj added, “Distributed travel is affordable, boosts local economies and local jobs, and immerses people in these communities – whereas too much travel to popular places concentrates tourism economically and geographically. Across Southeast Asia, Airbnb is helping disperse guests, income and tourism benefits beyond the usual hotspots to new and trending destinations. We see the challenges posed by mass tourism around the world, and are investing in solutions to help, while helping guests discover new communities and generating new income streams for locals.”

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^[1] Based on data from the World Tourism Organization

^[2] Based on Airbnb internal data for 2022

^[3] Based on internal Airbnb data for 2022

^[4] Based on nights booked in each unique city during 2022

^[5] Based on nights booked globally in 2019 versus 2022

^[6] Based on nights booked in unique cities in 2022 versus 2017

^[7] Based on number of unique cities globally where guests have stayed

^[8] Based on internal Airbnb data of first booking date from March 2020 to March 31, 2023.

^[9] Instead of selecting exact dates at the beginning of a search, guests can search for new options like a weekend getaway, a week-long vacation, or even a month-long or months-long stay. This will allow them to browse more options while staying flexible on the exact dates of their trip to make their trip fit with their schedules.

^[10] According to Airbnb internal data, as of November 2022

^[11] According to Airbnb internal data, as of November 2022