The Philippines registered the highest volume of summer bookings in Southeast Asia and ranked among the most popular destinations for US visitors, according to global travel analytics firm ForwardKeys on Friday, June 17.

While Southeast Asia "lagged far behind the rest of the world in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic" visitors from the USA are coming back in substantially greater numbers than from other origin markets, according to the analystics firm.

The "most popular destinations for US visitors" which are "recovering most strongly are the Philippines and Singapore" said ForwardKeys.

Summer flight bookings for the Philippines are currently at 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

In the case of Singapore, it is 58 percent; for Thailand, 35 percent, for Indonesia, 41 percent and for Vietnam 32 percent.

Travel to the Philippines is dominated by people returning to visit friends and relatives, whereas travel to other destinations is more for work and leisure.

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Overall, in the first five months of the year, travel to Southeast Asia reached just 18 percent of pre-pandemic levels, whereas travel to Europe reached 55 percent, to the Americas 66 percent and to the Middle East and Africa 64 percent.

Looking ahead to the summer months of June to August, flight bookings for Southeast Asia are at just 43 percent of pre-pandemic levels, whereas bookings for Europe are at 70 perceny, for the Americas are at 78 percent and for the Middle East and Africa are at 85 percent.

Analysis of long-haul flight bookings this summer reveals that travel from the USA is set to reach 75 percent of where it was in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

This is good news, according to ForwardKeys, because US tourists are known for being high spending, average trip durations,

The US visitor profile is also more affluent, with 17 percent flying in the front of the plane, compared to 9 percent in the equivalent months in 2019.

The next healthiest source market is Australia, where bookings are currently far behind, at 60 percent of 2019 levels.

It is followed by the UK, at 47 percent, Germany, at 58 percent, and France at 57 percent.

Throughout the pandemic, airlines flying to Southeast Asia have provided more than enough seat capacity to accommodate passenger demand.

However, in May 2022, the acceleration in demand started to outstrip capacity, which has been creating an upward pressure on air fares.

Notably, government-imposed travel restrictions provide the best explanation of the observed recovery trends, ForwardKeys observed.

Destinations that relaxed restrictions earlier, such as the Philippines and Singapore, have recovered more strongly.

In February, the Philippines opened its borders to vaccinated travellers without quarantine although a pre-departure test was required.

India only opened its borders to all travellers without quarantine until March and Singapore opened up to vaccinated travellers without quarantine and tests in April.

Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam Cambodia and Indonesia did not open up until May.

“Travel during the pandemic has been a function of pent-up demand pushing in one direction and pandemic protection rules pushing back in the opposite direction," summed up ForwardKeys VP Insights Olivier Ponti.

The recovery of air travel in Southeast Asia is lagging because travel restrictions there have been tougher, he pointed out.

"China, which used to be Southeast Asia´s largest source market, is still effectively closed; Japan, another major market for travel, is reopening very cautiously and seat capacity, which is constrained, is leading to higher air fares, which in turn dampens demand.”