The local tourism industry will have to find new ways of jumpstarting growth amid the plateauing of the current hotel metrics since bouncing back from the COVID-19 slump, Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) said.
The average occupancy rate for hotels as of last year has hit 60 percent, a recovery from the 42 percent and 52 percent occupancy rate in 2020 and 2021.
However, Alfred Lay, LPC director for hotels, tourism and leisure, said the rebound was still far from the 68 percent occupancy rate recorded in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue per available room (REVPAR) was recorded at P3,368 last year, improving from the P1,519 and P1,421 REVPAR recorded in 2020 and 2021, but still far from the P3,690 recorded in 2019.
“Over the course of the last year, from 2023 to 2024, the metrics have stabilized and we need some sort of a catalyst for that to pick up again,” Lay said earlier this week.
Lay said that Philippine hotel scenario points to “a picture of two stories.”
“Essentially, the economy to the mid-market is still struggling to recover after COVID. That may be a reflection of inflation pressures on the more mass markets and their ability to travel,” he said.
“What we have seen, however, from the upscale, upper upscale and into the luxury segment, is still very resilient and continues to drive forward. Performance in those spaces has been been very strong,” he added.
Lay said there had been a “notable flight to quality” among hotel visitors, where people may have stayed in a mid-scale hotel but are opting to try and stay in nicer hotels at the moment.
He expects international arrivals in the Philippines to hit 6 million this year, same as last year.
“We don’t see any major catalysts, looking down the next three quarters, unless there are some major changes, we don’t expect the Philippines to outperform that six million number,” he said.
Lay said liberalizing entry requirements into the Philippines, such as easing the process for visas on arrival, extending the visa-free periods and reducing other barriers to travel to the Philippines can help increase inbound arrivals, such as what happened in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
