SINGAPORE — NusaTrip, Indonesia’s first IATA-certified online travel agency and the travel vertical of Society Pass Incorporated, has formally announced the opening of its second Southeast Asia (SEA) regional office in the Philippines.
The market for Filipino tourists and foreign workers is sizable. According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration’s (POEA) data, approximately 2.3 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) were deployed in 2019. In 2021, OFW was estimated to be 1.83 million, up from 1.77 million in 2020. Based on the Department of Tourism’s November 2022 report, 73% of the 2.025 million visitors to the Philippines are foreign tourists, whereas 27% are OFWs. In 2023, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) aims to increase the number of overseas Filipino workers. The majority of OFWs work in the service sector, such as domestic help, healthcare, engineering, and construction. By 2020, Asia employed 83.6% of OFWs, followed by Europe, America, and Australia.
NusaTrip CEO Johanes (Joe) Chang elaborated, “Considering the market’s size and potential, the Philippines is an essential market for our ecosystem. NusaTrip aims to be the promotion partners for the Philippines’ tourism boards and become the travel hub that helps to connect overseas Filipinos with their home country. We are excited to collaborate with local businesses. It will accelerate and improve the quality of our synergies and customer growth rate in Southeast Asia. In addition, given the Philippines’ countless scenic spots and picturesque beaches, NusaTrip will focus on promoting thousands of hotels into our platform and provide leisure alternatives for international travelers.”
Leveraging the momentum of the travel and tourism industry recovery post-COVID-19 pandemic, NusaTrip is expanding its offering beyond air travel. NusaTrip aims to extend its flight content with more travel inspirations and relevant options, so everyone will always find something to explore and somewhere to fly to. On the business side, NusaTrip connects worldwide flight content through streamlined integration with low-cost and full-service airlines from multiple points of sale and enables global distribution at ease via its proprietary technology, the NusaXchange platform.
Nusatrip regional offices will focus on creating more variety of marketing initiatives and managing existing business relationships with airlines, hotels, and tourism promotion board partners.
“We are very excited to welcome NusaTrip and look forward to the collaboration with our local businesses. I believe it will benefit our business partners and customers,” said Arbie Christie Pagdangan, Country Manager for Society Pass in the Philippines.
