1 in 2 Pinoys waste 4 vacation days a year because of poor planning —study

One in two Filipinos waste four vacation days a year due to poor planning, a study has revealed.

The study, commissioned by Beringer Vineyards, showed that 64 percent of Filipinos are "rolling over annual leave to the next financial year, or losing it completely" and 70 percent said they failed to maximize leaves due to their responsibilities at work. An additional 44 percent said conflicting schedule with "travel" buddies also added to the problem.

The survey is based on 5,000 respondents representative of the population aged 25-65 years old.

The research was conducted in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.

In order to improve planning, Beringer Vineyards shared the following hacks:

• File your annual leaves months ahead, as it is less likely to clash with others if it's been scheduled too far ahead.
• Plan the vacation face-to-face with your travel buddies.
• Don't try to finalize everything — date, destination, itinerary — all at once.
• Leave time for research and build your itinerary gradually.
• Make use of public holidays to plan trips in the future.

Only 10 percent of Filipinos are able to commit to plans seven months ahead, the study showed.

According to the data, the top three regrets are not being able to book early to take advantage of lower cost (78 percent); not being able to research their destination (55 percent); and not being able to plan properly with friends (47%).

Sharing the responsibility of planning would make the vacation more enjoyable and more likely to happen according to 90 percent of the respondents, as 60 percent said that they "feel frustrated over criticism over travel plans" they made alone.

Unsurprisingly, 85 percent admitted that they are "guilty of being critical of travel plans they have not helped to develop."

“We were shocked to find that there’s a growing trend of Filipinos who are short changing themselves when it comes to getting the most from their annual leave, given that they work so hard to earn it,” Beringer Vineyards  Regional Marketing Director Chris Thomas said in a statement.

Thomas said that Beringer Vineyards is launching a campaign with TripAdvisor to put forward the idea that planning a vacation is not a chore and can vastly improve the experience. —JST, GMA News