‘HOLIDAY economics” will help the country’s tourism industry recover faster as more Filipinos are seen booking vacations with family and friends to domestic destinations next year.
She added, “With the adjusted holidays for the coming year, families and local travelers can create advance plans for their vacations, avail of hotel and airline promotions, thus making their travel costs more efficient. It will then be our opportunity to take care of our guests during their long weekend stays with the hopes that their experience will encourage them to promote patronizing our local destinations.
Budget carriers Cebu Pacific and Air Asia Philippines are currently offering discounted air fares on many destinations that are good for trips until next year.Based on Presidential Proclamation No. 90, there will be a total of nine long weekends in 2023: January 2 and November 2 have been declared additional special non-working holidays; April 10, Monday, is a non-working holiday as April 9 falls on a Sunday; November 27, Monday is a non-working holiday since November 30 , falls on a Thursday.
Prior to the country’s reopening its borders in February, the tourism industry’s recovery was jumpstarted by the previous administration’s lowering of Covid-19 alert levels, which encouraged domestic tourism. Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed domestic trips grew by 38 percent to 37.3 million in 2021, from some 27 million the year before. Prior to the pandemic, domestic trips reached 122.12 million in 2019.