Filipino hoteliers adopt changes to help revive domestic tourism

Players are urged to prioritise worker vaccination, as well as apply training and booking flexibility 

According to a recent poll by Colliers, participants were asked which local destination they would like to visit once lockdowns are eased, and Palawan and Boracay came on top, reported Inquirer.net.  

The poll revealed 43 percent picked Palawan, followed by Boracay at 36 percent, Cebu at 14 percent, Davao at three percent, Bacolod at two percent, and Iloilo at two percent.  

As a result, the Philippines’ most popular places to visit remain the same and Filipinos will take a chance to visit once it is safe to do so.  

Colliers urges hotel and leisure players to prioritise vaccination of tourism workers for the time being, including training staff, refresh programs, providing booking flexibility, adopting a multiple-use model, and targeting domestic tourists in line with the Department of Tourism’s domestic tourism efforts.  

Due to the ongoing pandemic and domestic and international travel restrictions, Colliers expects a slow recovery for the leisure sector.  

Colliers believes that domestic travel will help revive the leisure sector, especially seeing that the Philippine government’s efforts in improving local jobs and hotel occupancies.  

Hotel operators should also adjust their marketing strategies to help with maximising the sector’s recovery.  

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Furthermore, Colliers unveiled that hotel occupancy slightly increased to 24 percent in H1 2021 from 20 percent in 2020.  

The company also believes that hotel occupancies will probably remain below 30 percent by the end of this year, as well as a low uptick in international tourists.