MANILA: Ranking 25th among 50 markets that have deep pockets for international travel, Filipinos are expected to almost double their travel spending by 2025, a study by Visa Inc. has pointed out.
Visa estimates that Filipino travelers spent a combined $9.9 billion (P465 billion) on outbound travel in 2015. By 2025, travel spending by Filipinos will likely increase by 79 percent to $17.7 billion, reported Business World Online.
The top five economies based on international travel spending are China, the United States, Germany, United Kingdom and Russia, the report said.
In Southeast Asia alone, the Philippines trails behind Singapore (7th) and Malaysia (24th). The research reportedly tracked the global emergence of a “traveling class,” or people with enough income to travel internationally. It mapped out travel and tourism trends from 2015 to 2025.
“This new traveling class is going to have a deep impact on the global economy through the amount of money that they spend on international travel,” Visa international economist Richard Lung reportedly said.
The key drivers that impact global travel are a growing middle class, greater internet connectivity, improved transportation infrastructure across countries, and an aging global population that has more time for leisure travel, said the news portal.
The future traveling class will come from emerging markets, with an older population of travelers. The study cited medical tourism as a trend that would grow stronger from the aging traveling demographic.
The Philippines was no. 37 in the ranking of markets with the highest number of outbound trips by travelers aged 65 and above.
The study reportedly found average annual spending by households during a trip will likely rise 8 percent to $5,230 (P245,000).
Visa conducted its study by looking at the face-to-face transactions of Visa-branded credit cardholders for international travel and comparing the data with that of all active cardholders in the source country. The results were adjusted to represent the source country’s population regardless of payment methods used, reported Business World Online.
