Trevolution Group sees 48.3% rise in PHL outbound travel for 1st half

TREVOLUTION Group, a global player in the travel industry, saw a 48.3% increase in outbound tourism from the Philippines during the first half of 2024 compared with the same period last year.  

“[This] indicates the market’s rapid recovery and progressive economic growth,” the company said in a media release on Tuesday.

Trevolution Group operates several travel-related brands, including International Travel Network, ASAP Tickets, Skylux Travel, Dreamport, and Oojo.

“Today, more Filipino travelers choose foreign destinations that are closer to home or prefer to travel domestically, showing almost a threefold increase in flights taken across the country compared with the first half of 2023,” said Trevolution Group, a division of the global technology group Dyninno Group of Companies.

“Family-friendly destinations and extended weekend trips are stealing the spotlight while simultaneously boosting the local tourism sector,” it added.  

The Philippines accounted for almost 20% of Trevolution Group’s overall gross profit for the first half, with over 90,000 airline tickets sold, resulting in more than $120 million in gross bookings, the company said.

“Historically, the Philippines has been a top travel choice for the Group’s air passengers, and currently, the demand for transpacific flights departing from the country is also growing significantly and surpassing the levels seen before the pandemic,” it said.  

For the first half, economy class constituted 98.5% of all flight bookings, with a 9.6% increase in demand.

The share of round-trip tickets increased by 2.5%, amounting to 79.7% of all tickets sold, the company said.

The average length of stay abroad for Filipino travelers decreased to 39.5 days from 62 days last year, indicating a trend towards shorter, more frequent trips.  

Economy-class flight prices from the Philippines decreased by 23.7%, amounting to $767 per ticket, while business-class fares dropped by 14%.

The top departure countries for travelers to the Philippines were the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Notably, there was almost a fifteenfold increase in inbound flights from the UK’s major airports compared with the first half of 2023.

Similarly, the top departure cities remained Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto, and Chicago, with Philippine Airlines, EVA Air, United Airlines, China Airlines, and Korean Air being the most popular air carriers.  

“Our objectives for the Philippines this year are very ambitious — we are now focusing on local expansion and active hiring, expecting to gain over 1,000 people in Cebu and over 500 in Manila. To provide more value for the market, we are now working on offering our travel products to the local clientele, including the introduction of financial options to help finance air travel,” said Alex Weinstein, founder of Dyninno Group of Companies.

“Additionally, our team is excited to launch a new product, the all-in-one travel super-app Dreampass, designed to further enhance customer engagement,” he added. — Sheldeen Joy Talavera