Take the case of Bicol native Mark Lester Urbano, 26. He was supposed to go on a trip to Hong Kong last March, but was cancelled after President Duterte imposed the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine and international flights outside the region were suspended.
The survey showed that 85 percent of the 7,515 respondents, mostly from Metro Manila, rated health and safety as the number one factor in their travel decisions, followed by availability of COVID-19 vaccine with 22 percent, then travel location and costing. Of the total respondents, the survey showed that millennials and generation X will be the first group to travel domestically. But majority of respondents across all age groups still opt to travel by air, followed by land.
If tourism officials maintain the same enthusiasm, domestic travel demand is poised to substantially recover within a 12-month period, with leisure plans as the driving factor.