The We Can Working Approach

BoholTouristSatisfaction Survey
November 2011 - February 2012

ACknowledgement

The Bohol Tourist Satisfaction Survey is a result of a joined work that has been carried out by the Bohol Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), University of Applied Science of Worms, and the WeCan Program of Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) as well as AFOS-Foundation. This study could not have been realized without the serious contribution of the private and public stakeholders in Bohol. A special gratitude should be addressed to all public, semi public and private offices that were involved in the preparation of this study, particularly Bohol Provincial Tourism Office, Bohol Association of Hotels, Resorts and Restaurants (BAHRR), and Department of trade and Industry (DTI), additionally to survey respondents, who shared their time, their efforts and serious interest to provide all necessary information and data in advance and on time for a smooth preparation of this study.

FOREWORD

Working for the Enhancement of the Chamber & Association Network in the Visayas and Caraga (WE CAN – Visayas & Caraga) is a partnership between the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) and the German AFOS Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development Cooperation. It aims to support trade and industry in selected areas in the Visayas and Caraga region through the strengthening of Business Membership Organizations (BMOs).

One of the distinct methods utilized by the Program is the Sector Unit Approach (SUA) which provides a more efficient and structured way to serve BMO members. SUA aims to create an organizational platform where entrepreneurs can start to open up, to better identify their problems, to compare themselves with others (benchmarking), to define their own demand for services, to develop self-confidence and to improve their enterprises. At the same time it is necessary to involve Local Government Units (LGU) in the process as the harmonization of common strategies is essential for the economic growth of a community. According to the target area of WE CAN this is a crucial aspect to be taken into consideration.

Figure 1 illustrates the WE CAN working approach. After a BMO has identified its target sector WE CAN provides, among other tools, the option of undertaking an industry study in order to generate data and substantial information about the market and other aspects. WE CAN approach is always market driven. The detailed knowledge about the particular market demand is a precondition to tailor further strategic steps within the working approach. The market drives the strategy and this is the entrepreneurial philosophy of WE CAN. Thus, the Survey of selected national and internationaltravelers was undertaken to give the economic development planners of Bohol quantitative basis for qualitative improvements particularly based on training.

Chart 1

THE WE CAN WORKING APPROACH

Summary OF KEY FINDINGS

• The majority of tourists visiting Bohol are young adults between 20-30 years. They almost never travel alone but with friends or family. However, guests don’t bring children and as of now the senior market also doesn’t play a significant role. The ratio between male and female visitors to the islandis balanced.

• Bohol shows a diversified pattern when it comes to the nationality of visitors. The province seems to be able to capture similar big shares in the domestic/Filipino (29%) as well as the major foreign markets. The Europeans, Anglo-Saxon tourists (US;AUS, UK) and Asians make up about 16 - 17% each.
• When assessing the relative importance of different origin countries, it might be necessary to account for the average number of nights stayed to achieve a more accurate measure. While the market shares of different foreign groups are balanced, Europeans account for almost double the nights stayed in Bohol.
• Bohol is not characterized by long term stays exceeding one week but is also far from merely functioning as one-night stopover. The average visitor stays 4,4 nights on the island. Most common is a stay of 2-3 nights.

• Beaches are by far the number one reason to visit Bohol, followed by diving and eco-tourism, while business travel and visiting friends/relative both make up minor shares among respondents. The local tourism sector can be characterized as commercial leisure market and Bohol’s natural attractions as the main selling point of the island.

• While “word of mouth” is the most common responses when travelers were asked how the idea emerged to choose Bohol and a majority of trips are self-organized, travel agencies as well as travel guides also play a considerable role as marketing channels. As much as a third of tourists’ book their vacation on the island through travel agencies and 20% choose all-inclusive packages.

• The top 5 items perceived as most relevant on a scale from “completly unimportant” to “very important” are nature, environmental protection, personal safety and security, quality of accommodation and the pricing of food and beverages. Visitors to Bohol indicate a high degree of environmental awareness, with green aspects rating number one and two on the list of customer priorities.

• Bohols natural assets, the friendliness of boholanos and personal safety & security are being perceived as the strength of the destination and consequently can be found among the highest ranking items in the tourist satisfaction ranking. Nightlife & entertainment as well as shopping possibilities on the other hand are being rated as unsatisfactory by some respondents.
• Bohol offers a variety of activities and attractions of which some already were successfully developed into trademarks of the island and offer a high recognition value. It doesn’t come as a surprise that the popular Chocolate Hills, Panglao Beaches and Tarsiers rank as the top three attractions.

• The competitiveness ofBohol towards other domestic destinationsis perceived as good, with regard to the general touristic offer as well as security and quality of accommodation.

• Most tourists indicated a high degree of satisfaction about the accommodation they availed of. Friendly service, security & safety, cleanliness & comfort of the room, and language skills turned out to be among the highest ranking items Having said that, there is still room for improvement with regards to the availability or quality of business facilities, internet connection, live entertainment and swimming pools.

• When respondents were asked what factor eventually led them to choose their respective resort, findings suggest, that most travelers research upfront and carefully compare existing offers. It seems to be advisable for accommodation enterprises to invest in their website and their facilities. In the case of Bohol, distribution channels are rather diversified.

• While green issues also turned out as top ranking in the general ratings of Bohol as a tourism destination, the same is true for environmental friendly practices on hotel level. A vast majority of 80%-90% each indicated their interest for green business practices and green tourism products in line with the provincial government’s tourism vision for an eco-cultural destination.

• Looking at our sample group, it seems that cultural factors don’t play that much of a role, when it comes to customer preferences during their vacation. Criteria like safety and a desire for friendly hosts seem to be that much of basic concerns, that they are widely shared disregardingnationality. Strong preferences for environmental protection and the natural attraction of Bohol are equally important to visitors from all origins as well. A similar tendency can be found when looking at the preferences on hotel/resort level.

Table of ContentS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT……………………………………………………………….…1

FOREWORD…………..……………………………………………………………….…2

SUMMARY OF KEY FINDINGS………………………………………………………....3

TABLE OF CONTENTS.………………………………………………………….……..5

LIST OF CHARTS.………………………………………………………………....…… 6

LIST OF TABLES.……………………………………………………………………...… 6

Introduction...... 8

Methodology...... 8

Profile of Respondents...... 10

Gender & Age...... 10

Nationality...... 10

Frequency & Duration of Stay...... 11

Type of Trip...... 13

Purpose of Travel...... 12

Travel Companion/s...... 13

Reason to Choose Bohol...... 13

How Trips are Organized...... 14

Type of Trip Booked...... 14

Rating of Bohol as a Destination...... 15

Quality Ratings - Destination...... 15

Rating of Local Attractions ...... 16

Bohol in Comparison to other Destinations...... 18

Suggestions for Improvement of the Destination...... 18

Rating of the Local Accommodation Sector...... 20

Quality Ratings - Accommodation...... 21

Reasons to Choose Particular Accommodation...... 22

Environmental Protection...... 22

Preferences by Origin of Tourists...... 24

List of charts

Chart 1. The We Can Working Approach……………………………………...2

Chart 2. Visitors by Age Bracket………………………………………...……...10

Chart 3Visitors by Gender……………...... …………………………………..10

Chart 4 Visitors by Nationality……………….…………………..……………..10

Chart 5 No. of Overnight Stays…………………...……………………….….11

Chart6No. of Visits to Bohol...... ……………...………….12

Chart 7Purpose of Travel…………………...…………………………..…….13

Chart 8 Travel Companions…………………...... ………….13

Chart 9 Reasons to Choose Bohol…………………..………………………..14

Chart 10 How trips are organized…………………...…...………………….….14

Chart 11 Type of Trip booked………………………………..……...………….15

Chart 12Destination Rating – Relative Importance of Items..………...…….16

Chart 13Quality Rating of Touristic Offer & Touristic Infrastructure……….17

Chart 14 Comparison to Other Destinations…………………..……………….19

Chart 15 Accommodation Rating – Relative Importance of Items………….21

Chart 16 Quality Rating of Local Accommodation Sector……………….….21

Chart 17 Reasons to Choose Particular Accommodation……………….…..22

Chart 18 Environmental Protection……………….…………………………..22

Chart 19Domestic Preferences - DESTINATION………….……………..25

Chart 20Anglo-Saxon Preferences - DESTINATION……………………..26

Chart 21European Preferences - DESTINATION…………………………..27

Chart 22Other Asian Preferences - DESTINATION.………………:……..28

Chart 23Domestic Preferences - ACCOMMODATION…………………..29

Chart 24Anglo-Saxon Preferences - ACCOMMODATION …:…………..30

Chart 25European Preferences - ACCOMMODATION …………………..31

Chart 26Other Asian Preferences - ACCOMMODATION.………………..32

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Origin Countries …………………...……………………………….11

Table 2 Average Duration of Stay by Origin…………………...………….11

Table 3Rating of Local Attractions……………………………...………….18

Table 4Suggestions for Improvements…………………..…...………….19

Table 5Suggestions for Improvements …………………..…...………….24

INTRODUCTION

The Bohol Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) has identified tourism as one of its focus sectors in line with the economic development priorities of the provincial government and the WE CAN sector unit approach.

While recently, efforts were made to formulate a provincialtourism development plan and a strategy to upgrade Bohol’s tourism value chain, the BCCI has opined that more definitive data is required to form a solid basis for decision making. Knowing ones markets is the starting point for sound business decisionsas well as for the design of conducive policies. It is in this context that this study was carried out to provide a more in-depth understanding about customer preferences. Similar efforts were made by business membership organizations in Ormoc City (2010), Siquijor (2012), and Negros Oriental (2012).

Based on the responses on two different surveys totaling 957 survey participants, this paper provides a profile of respondents, information about the common type of trip booked (totaling 459 respondents) as well as comprehensive ratings of Bohol as a destination and of the local accommodation sector (by 498 respondents).

Armed with information generated in the course of this survey, the province, the local chamber, the tourism stakeholders with the support of “WE CAN Visayas and Caraga Program” may find the answers to the following questions:

• What is the market about, what is the distinction with regard to target groups, domestic and international tourism, how is the assessment of Bohol as a tourist spot?
• What conclusions can be drawn by the private sector and the province of Bohol as to the viability of developing the local tourism industry?
• What kind of support can WE CAN provide?
• What should be the working strategy of the local business membership organizations (BMO)?

METHODOLOGY

The research instrument was designed to capture information that would provide a profile of the travellers in terms of demographics, their reasons for travelling and type of trips booked (the first survey as covered in the first part of this report) as well as their perception of Bohol as a destination and a rating of the local accommodation sector (the second survey of which results are reflected in the last part of this report). The survey instruments have been developed by Master students of University of applied Science of Worms in collaboration with AFOS. The questionnaire isattached as Appendix. The assessment of the data has been done by AFOS and University of San Carlos (USC).

TheSurvey took place during the months of October and November 2011. Survey on tourist profile was taken done airport and seaport (departure lounges!) and included day trippers. While survey on accommodation was done at premises of BAHRR members (and thus included only those visitors to Bohol that stayed at least one overnight).

PROFILE OF RESPONDENTS

This Chapter covers basic information like gender and age of visitors, duration of stay and relative importance of different origin countries based on a survey done among 459 respondents.

GENDER & AGE

The succeeding charts show information on the demographics of the respondents.

About 50% of the respondents are below 30 years old while only 11% are 51 or older. The majority of visitors to Bohol are young adults. Seniors don’t make up a significant share of the local tourism market. As to gender, there is not much difference between the males and females.

NATIONALITY OF GUESTS

Bohol shows adiversified pattern of visitors. Among our respondents, the province seems to be able to capture similar big shares in the domestic as well as the major foreign markets. The number of Filipino tourist amount to a third of visitors to the island. In the aggregate, the three big foreign markets make up almost equal shares, with Europeans ranking second, closely followed by Asians and Anglo-Saxons.

The top 5 single origin countries,most visible in Bohol, are Philippines, USA, Korea, China and Germany.

Table 1:Origin Countries
#1 - Filipino / 133 / 29,0%
#2 - American / 38 / 8,3%
#3 - Korea / 28 / 6,1%
#4 - China / 22 / 4,8%
#5 - German / 20 / 4,4%

It might be necessary to account for the average number of nights stayedto complement the analysis of total arrivals, when assessing the relative importance of different origin countries

DURATION AND FREQUENCY OF VISIT

Among the questions asked to respondents were the duration of stay and frequency of visits to the island.

Bohol is not characterized by long term stays exceeding one week but is also far from merely functioning as one-night stopover. The average visitor stays 4 nights on the island. Most common is a stay of 2-3 nights(about half of the respondents).

Looking at the averages, our results show different patternsfot different aggregated groups of visitors.

Table 2: Average Duration of Stay by Origin
Origin / Domestic / Anglo Saxon / European / Other Asian / Others / Total
Mean / 3,2 / 3,4 / 6,2 / 3,2 / 4,0 / 4,0

While Domestic tourists, Anglo-Saxons and Other Asians stay for 3.3-3.4 nights, Europeans on average extend their stay to 6,2 nights on average (corresponding with the number of official holidays given in different countries).

When assessing the relative importance of different origin countries, it might be necessary to account for the average number of nights stayedto achieve a more accurate measure. While the market share of the different foreign groups are balanced by about 16% each, as the last chapter shows, Europeans account for almost double the nights stayed in Bohol.

When it comes to the frequency of visits, 85% of respondents visited Bohol for the first time. This could be interpreted as indicative for Bohols potential to attract new guests and is reflective of increasing tourist arrivals to the province. The low number of reccurent visits in this sample might not be explained by low customer satisfaction, since many visitors were attracted by favourable recommendations from friends and relatives as the next chapter shows and could rather be attributed to limited information available on ‘what else’ is there to enjoy at the island of Bohol. This was also recognized as an area for future development during the Bohol Tourism Summit 2011, where strategies were developed a.o. focussing on the strengthening of marketing efforts.

TYPE OF TRIP BOOKED

A lot of insights on priorities in tourism development can be gained by characterizing the common mode of travel to Bohol. Visitors were asked about the purpose of their travel, their companionship as well as the way they were attracted to the island and their trip was booked.

Beaches are by far the number one reason to visit Bohol, followed by diving and eco-tourism, while business travel and visiting friends/relative both make up minor shares among respondents. The local tourism sector can be characterized as commercial leisure market and Bohol’s natural attractions as the main selling point of the island.

The survey also captured partly those who come on a day-trip to Bohol from Cebu (with 15.9% who booked a ‘round trip’).

To further specify the character of trips to Bohol, respondents were asked about their companionship. Only about 11% of visitors travel alone. The majority travels either in a group of friends or relatives or as a couple. The low significance of business travel indicated earlier is also reflected by the fact that only a small share of visitors travel with business partners.

With respect to marketing and effective distribution channels it seems helpful to explore about how guests were attracted to the island and how they booked their travel. While “word of mouth” and internet sources are the most common responses when travelers were asked how the idea emerged to choose Bohol, travel agencies as well as printed travel guides and brochures also play a considerable role. Other conventional media like TV, newspapers and radio are being perceived by the customers as rather negligiblein their immediate marketing potential.

In international comparison, travel to Bohol is characterized by a high share of self-organized trips. Two-thirds of travelers each like to book their trip on their own and prefer to be independent during their travel in comparison to choosing a packaged offer.

But if Bohol is compared on a domestic scale, it might be legitimate to reverse the preceding interpretation. One-third bookings made through travel agencies and a 20% share of packaged tours are indicative about the relative importance of organized travel for Bohol, as compared to other destinations in the Philippines.