Summer Travel Survey Results & Analysis

Philippine Summer Travel Survey
Philippine Summer Travel Survey

After a month of the “Be Cool This Summer Campaign” and almost 4 weeks of the online Summer Travel Survey, finally, we are able to tally and release the results. The survey was gathered online from 68 Philippine-based Filipino bloggers nationwide.

We tapped social networks Multiply, Facebook and micro-blogging sites Twitter and Plurk to penetrate some of our local online blogging community.

The Respondents:

Participant Sex Statistics
Participant Sex Slice

Sex

Male 29 43%
Female 39 57%

Age Bracket

< 20 4 6%
20 – 25 25 37%
26 – 30 23 34%
31 – 40 16 24%
> 40 0 0%
Participant Age Bracket
Participant Age Bracket

The age range of the respondents reveal that a large group are young adults / professionals aged 20-30 while a quarter at age 31-40 most probably have young families with one child.

The Results:

Top 3 Best Philippine Summer Vacation Destination (by Perception)

Palawan 20
Boracay 11
Baguio City 4
Bohol 4
Coron 4

This is gathered from the question based on their knowledge and perception of the place.  The question was open was not limited to any choices. They don’t necessarily should have been to the place already.

Palawan topped the answers with 20 votes and Boracay come in a far second with only half the votes. Baguio, Bohol, and Coron shared the third spot with 4 votes each. T

he other answers include Ilocos Norte’s Pagudpod, Batanes, and Puerto Gallera with 3 votes each. Caramoan, El Nido, and Calaguas of Camarines Norte got 2 votes each while Tubbataha, Camiguin Island, Marinduque, Manila, Aman Pulo, Subic, Samal Island got a mention. One was undecided.

Top 3 Best Philippine Summer Vacation Destination (by Experience)

Boracay 12
Palawan 8
Baguio 7
Coron 4
Cebu 4
Bohol 4

In contrast to question #1, the choice destinations in question #2 here are limited to places the respondents have already visited. In a way, the answers are much reliable since it goes beyond perception and the decision is already based on actual experience. However, it is limited only to those he/she have visited; meaning if there were other better places that the respondent have not been to, it cannot be included.

Topping the list this time is Boracay with 12 votes, followed by Palawan with 8 and Baguio‘s 7. Bohol, Cebu and Coron shares the fourth spot with 4 votes each.

Other mentioned destinations were Ilocos Norte’s Pagudpod, Batanes, Tagaytay, Pangasinan’s Hundred Islands, and the slowly-gaining-popularity Caramoan Peninsula got 2 votes each. Interestingly, the high summer temparatures of Manila was able t get 2 votes as well. La Union, Mt. Makiling, Batanes, Sorsogon, Oriental Mindoro, Quezon,  Apo Reef, Zambales, Davao, Puerto Gallera, Sagada, Camiguin Island,  and Calaguas in Camarines Norte got one mention each. A very specific answer of Dona Jovita Resort in Laguna got a vote as well.  Lastly, a Manila Mall also got a vote – Mall of Asia. 🙂 (Now a summer vacation destination? – perhaps due to the aircon) 🙂

It is interesting to note however, that the Top 4 results of survey question #1 and #2 are the same having Palawan, Boracay, Coron, Baguio and Bohol. Could we then safely conclude that these five destinations are really deserving of being in the ‘Top Vacation Destinations‘, both in perception and actual experience?

Summer Vacation Budget

less than P2,000 5 7%
P2,001 to P5,000
27 40%
P5,001 to P10,000 26 38%
P10,000 to P20,000 8 12%
Other 2 3%
Summer Estimated Vacation Budget
Summer Estimated Vacation Budget

The question was in terms of a single person budget including all expenses and transportaion cost. We can see that one is willing to spend anywhere from Php2,000 ($40) to Php10,000 ($200) for a short vacation. If this is a family of three, it would translate to Php6,000 – Php30,000. The 2k-5k budget could already give you a 2-day weekend surfing clinic at La Union to a three day bus tour of Vigan-Laoag-Pagudpod or a three day tour of Sagada according to a travel and lifestyle agency Travel Factor.

Length of Vacation

1 – 3 days 36 53%
4 days – 1 week 27 40%
1 week – 2 weeks 4 6%
> 2 weeks 1 1%
Length of Vacation Taken
Length of Vacation Taken

More than half of the respondents were only willing to spare 1 to 3 days of vacation and almost all anywhere between 1 day to 1 week.

If we check again the age bracket of the participants above, most of our respondents and yuppies and young adults probably having a Monday to Friday regular 9am-5pm jobs. Filing for employee leave credits might be a factor in the limited length of their vacation options as they were asked to consider work and family-related responsibilities back home.

Philippine Beach of Choice (from 6 given)

Camiguin Island, Mindanao 9 13%
Bantayan Island, Cebu 6 9%
Panglau Island, Bohol 2 3%
Pagudpod Beach, Ilocos Norte 9 13%
Coron Islands, Palawan 30 44%
Boracay Beach, Aklan 12 18%
Philippine Beach of Choice
Philippine Beach of Choice

Among a given list of 6 famous beach spots in the Philippines, Coron Islands of Palawan came in strong with 44% of the votes and Boracay coming only at second with 18%.

Once again, these two spots were also part of the Top 4 results for survey items #1 and #2.

Camiguin Island and the Pagudpod beach looked promising equally sharing 26% of the votes considering that they are the located at the farthest (northern and southern most) points of the Philippines among the 6 choices.

Bantayan Island of Cebu and Bohol’s Panglau perhaps still needs some pushing and more marketing since their beaches are actually almost just as beautiful and fascinating as that of the other choices. With a combined share of 12%, it is a little disappointing.

Most Important Factor in Choosing Where To Go

Proximity (location/distance) 1 1%
Cost / Expense Involved 26 38%
Quality of Resort / Accommodations / Facilities 5 7%
Mode of Transportation in going to the destination 1 1%
Beauty of the Place 18 26%
Companions in the trip/tour 7 10%
Availability of Adventure/Activities 10 15%
Most Important Factor that affects a decision on where to go
Most Important Factor that affects a decision on where to go

The respondents were asked which factor is the most important in making their decision in choosing/going to a summer vacation destination. This is an important aspect of a tourist’s or a traveller’s psych. Resort and hotel owners, local goverments, adn the tourism industry in general should be able to know and properly tap what makes the travelers tick.

As a developing country with a large segment of middle class families, it is not surprising that pricing and cost is still the biggest factor local tourists consider in making their vacation decisions.

Second most important is, naturally, the prestine condition of the place which makes it all worth it. Filipinos generally love beautiful things and beautiful places. The beach, sunrise and sunsets are usually the focus attractions.

Last interesting note would be the factor involving adventure activities the place has to offer. At third spot and with 15% of the votes, this is something developers should look into with great potential. With the traveling crowd getting younger, it is almost imperative for a resort to be able to offer

more than just its scenic views and fine white sand.

An example would be Cagayan De Oro‘s adventure thrills in the south. Aside from other activities, they have the Canopy Walk, Zip Line, Caving/Spelunking and White Water Rafting adventure tours. But you don’t have to actually go too far if you just want adventure and varied activities. One of the close destinations from Manila would be Cavite’s Island Cove Resort, where aside from water activities, you could go nature tripping and animal watching inside the ‘Animal Island’‘ with crocodiles, ostrich, and monkeys.

Proximity of the place and mode of transportation only comprised 2% fo the votes. It is obvious that with today’s cheaper airfare options, Baguio or Mindanao’s Davao, Camiguin and Bukidnon is just 2 hours away in contrast to a decade ago’s days of ship travel.

And that concludes our month long Summer Travel Survey. Do you concur with Sago‘s anaysis? React, comment or disagree through the comment section below.

15 thoughts on “Summer Travel Survey Results & Analysis

  1. Very well presented topic and I agree this is very limited because most will favor a place they already visited. I agree with the top destinations except for Baguio the place has deteriorated I think.

  2. I have not been to any of these, but now I have added them to my list of places to check out. Thanks for a very informative article.

  3. I see Davao City is not a popular summer destination. 🙁

    But nice survey. Very insightful! 🙂 Nicely done. Maybe next time, I can help you do stat analysis. CHAR LANG! 🙂

  4. @Earth – yeah, I actually have a follow-up analysis post re this survey result for end of May and that is one of the points. 🙂

    @Mica, Shawn – * hugs *

    @Ria – perhaps Davao is not much of a popular summer destination since respondents might be biased to those with beaches.
    – wow, thanks! I’ll make you my guest stat analyst next time! 🙂

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