Trevolution Group Reports Record Airfare Sales Results in the Philippines 

Trevolution Group, the global market leader operating Asap Tickets Skylux Travel, Dreamport, Oojo and other travel brands, has announced commercial results for 2023 with record sales for its travel operations across the Philippines. Reported business data indicate a stable 10% market growth and highlight the Philippines as one of the leading travel destinations for international airline passengers across the traditional leisure tourism and the emerging visiting-friends-and-relatives (VFR) segment. Over 155,000 flight tickets have been sold to and from the country’s main airports, resulting in over 234 million USD in gross bookings or 20% of the company’s overall gross profit during the past year since launching direct ticketing operations in the Philippines’ market.

The Philippines has historically been one of the most popular travel destinations for international and especially American passengers, and today, the growing demand for transpacific flights is strongly exceeding pre-pandemic volumes. Thus, last year Trevolution Group has reported a significant 51% increase in outbound tourism compared to 2022, which indicates this market’s rapid recovery and progressive economic growth. The past year has been the busiest travel period up to date, and 2024 is predicted to show the same pattern marking it as the year of largest boom across the Philippines’ tourism segment with anticipated 7.7 million foreign visitors.

According to the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT), the country’s tourism industry welcomed more than 5 million international visitors throughout 2023, with 92% foreigners and the remaining 8% being overseas Filipinos who fall into the VFR tourism segment. The new record is by around 650,000 international visitors higher than its target of 4.8 million that were projected to visit the country for the entire year. That indicates that the country’s tourism industry is recovering faster than expected, and the Trevolution Group’s travel businesses are a significant contributor to the market’s record performance reintroducing The Philippines into the global tourism arena.

Class of Travel 

Travel from the Philippines has seen a substantial increase in sales across all major cabin classes sold by Trevolution Group in 2023. That resulted in a high 56% increase in flights booked from the country’s main airports in Economy class and a 48% growth in Business class compared to the previous year’s data. Meanwhile, the demand for inbound Economy tickets has increased by 4% and by 43% in Business class indicating the continuous return of business travel where the Philippines play a significant role in the global economy.

Additionally, 90% of all tickets purchased to the Philippines were round-trip tickets hence the significant share of the VFR tourism segment, while the amount of one-way tickets has stayed at nearly the same level and amounted to 10%, compared to almost 9% in 2022. The predominance of outbound return tickets, however, is slightly less distinct with a 40% share in 2023 and 38% last year accentuating the gradual return of leisure tourism across this region.

Booking Window and Terms

Almost one half or 47.6% of all global travellers flying to the Philippines during 2023 purchased their tickets more than 90 days prior the departure date. The year before, however, this number was slightly lower with 43.6% of airline passengers booking their flights over three months in advance. This indicates that the travel industry has now finally recovered, and the travel sales show an increasing pattern of people making their travel plans further ahead, especially when it comes to VFR travel. Only 9.1% of all inbound flight tickets were purchased up to 10 days before the trip in 2023 vs. 8.7% in 2022, while 5.7% of all passengers would secure their flights up to 20 days in advance and 5.8% of them choose to do it up to a month ahead both in 2023 and back in 2022.

Meanwhile, according to ticket sales from the Philippines, passengers tend to do more last-minute decisions and, therefore, less than one-fourth or 24.7% of all travellers bought their tickets over three months in advance (vs. 13.8% in 2022), while 13.4% choose to do it up to 10 days in advance compared to 15.2% in 2022.

Destinations

According to the Group’s recent sales data, the majority of foreign visitors coming to the Philippines in 2023 originated from the United States, Canada, as well as Japan, Thailand and Singapore, following the last year’s pattern and choosing Manila as the main arrival and departure airport. Manila contributed to 76.54% of the total flight tickets booked to the Philippines and 81.21% of the total flights sold from the county’s largest airports (vs. 80.45% and 84.40% in 2022) with Cebu also growing in popularity over the last year. Similarly, the top five departure cities to the Philippines remained Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, followed by Toronto and Chicago, with Philippine Airlines, EVA Air, China Airlines and Korean Air being the most popular air carriers.

The majority of travellers starting their journey in the Philippines also flew to the same popular destinations including the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, as well as within the country.

“Historically, the Philippines has consistently ranked among our top travel destinations, and after launching direct ticketing operations in this market, I’m pleased to observe the rising interest in the VFR tourism. In fact, in 2023 alone, we saw a 15% increase in bookings from the expanding Filipino community residing in the US. Looking ahead to 2024, we anticipate further growth in this segment, particularly with the introduction of our upcoming initiative: a comprehensive travel app that will centralize all our travel products and services, promising maximum convenience and comfort for our customers. Additionally, we are dedicated to establishing a new corporate travel vertical, called Triplicity, recognizing the need for tailored solutions in this sector,” Alex Weinstein, the Founder of Dyninno Group commented.

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