MORE than half of the domestic travelers last year went around for pleasure or vacation, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).
In its 2010 Household Survey on Domestic Visitors, the NSO said about 23.1 million Filipinos who were 15 years old and above traveled in any place within the country from April to September last year.
These domestic travelers represented 36.6 percent of the estimated 63.2 million Filipinos who were 15 years old and above.
The NSO said pleasure or vacation was the main purpose of a trip for 53.3 percent followed by visit to friends or relatives and attendance to family gatherings, 36.9 percent.
The majority of domestic travelers were in the ages 15 to 34 years, of which 29.3 percent were in the age group 15 to 24, and 23.7 percent in the age group 25 to 34.
Most of the domestic travelers or 98.6 percent had arranged for their own trips. Those who availed of package tours accounted for only 2.4 percent.
On the average, a domestic traveler had two trips during the reference period. Each trip had an average of two places visited.
Of the total domestic travelers, about 21.6 million or 93 percent incurred expenses during their most recent trip. The average expenditure was P1,680.
Travelers whose main purpose was for pleasure or vacation reported an average expenditure of P1,807. Travelers spent largely on accommodation and shopping.
Among the independent travelers, those with expenses during their most recent trip comprised 94.3 percent while among package tour travelers, 77.6 percent.
Independent travelers spent P1,601 on the average.
Package tour travelers spent three times amounting to P4,091 than the independent travelers.
Forty-three percent of the travelers whose main purpose of travel was for pleasure or vacation stayed overnight during their most recent trip.
A large proportion of these overnight travelers stayed for two to three nights. The average number of nights spent was five.
The National Capital Region was the most frequently visited place with 7.1 million domestic visitors from April to September last year, of which 3 million traveled mainly for pleasure or vacation.
The other top destinations in Luzon were Cavite, Batangas, Bulacan, and Laguna, each with more than 1.4 million travelers. Also, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Pampanga, Rizal, Quezon and Tarlac were also listed as popular places.
In Visayas, Negros Occidental topped the list followed by Cebu, Iloilo, Leyte and Capiz. In Mindanao, the most frequently visited places were Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Davao Sur, and Misamis Oriental.
For the long weekends, Filipinos traveled the most during the Holy Week mainly for vacation. Labor Day came in second.
During these long holidays, majority stayed overnight in the place visited at 70.2 percent for the Holy Week travelers and 61.5 percent for Labor Day travelers. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Manila Times
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