By Justine Irish D. Tabile, Reporter
SHANGHAI — Hotel bookings in the Philippines rose 54% in the first quarter, driven by impulse travel, Singapore-based travel booking service Trip.com Group said.
“We have witnessed a significant increase in hotel bookings in the Philippines compared to last year, and that is a strong sign that more is to come,” Trip.com Managing Director and Vice-President for International Markets Boon Sian Chai said at a signing ceremony on Tuesday.
In the first quarter, Trip.com reported that hotel bookings in the Philippines through its travel site grew 54%.
The Philippines actually lagged the more than 100% growth in hotel bookings in Southeast Asia overall, though Trip.com said the country performed well in 2023, dampening the first-quarter result due to base effects.
Last year, volume and gross merchandise value of hotel bookings, as well as flight bookings in the Philippines, rose in the triple digits compared with 2022.
Trip.com Assistant Vice-President for International Market Yi Ru said that impulse travel influenced the Philippine numbers.
“The Philippine market is very unique. Filipinos are very enthusiastic about social media, so impulse buying is working super well in the Philippines,” she said.
She said that younger Filipinos are more receptive to impulse purchases, which is why Trip.com is looking at releasing a new feature on the platform.
“We will be launching our pre-sale campaigns, and we will have this function on Trip.com platforms very soon,” she added.
The feature will allow customers to buy a travel package at an earlier date and decide when they want to travel and book at a later date.
“This new feature will cater to impulse purchase needs. We are still developing this function, and hopefully it will be ready soon,” she said.
She said hotel and accommodation revenue for the booking service increased 100% in the first quarter, outstripping the Asia-Pacific average growth of 29%.
