FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Thai travellers happy to ‘go solo’ when travelling abroad: study

Thai travellers happy to ‘go solo’ when travelling abroad: study

Over a quarter of Thais (28 per cent) have traveled overseas “solo” in the past two years, ahead of the global (24 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (23 per cent) averages, according to Visa’s Global Travel Intentions Study.

The Study examined international travel trends and the behaviour of 17,500 global travellers from 27 countries including Thailand.
The study found those most likely to travel solo were the youngest group of travellers (18-24 years old) at 45 per cent, and those combining business and leisure travel or “bleasure” travellers at 37 per cent.
Travellers aged between 25 and 35 years old and affluent travellers round out the group most likely to travel solo at a 28-per-cent likelihood each. On the contrary, travellers aged 36-44 years old are the most likely to travel with other people throughout the entire trip at 71 per cent.
Suripong Tantiyanon, country manager for Visa Thailand said: “It is exciting to see how technology and tourism have become intertwined resulting in more Thai travellers taking ‘solo’ trips abroad.
“The development of technology allows travellers the ability to take trip planning and booking into their own hands,” he continued. In addition, payment technologies and innovations offer greater convenience, security and confidence to spend during their time abroad.
Larger groups are common when people travel with companions. Typically, a group consists of up to five people, on average. Those travelling with others are most likely to be accompanied by their spouses or partners (49 per cent) or friends and colleagues (42 per cent). Travellers aged 45 years old and above or “superboomers” (72 per cent) are more likely to travel with their family and friends throughout the whole trip.
When it comes to travel activities, travellers from Thailand differ from their Asia-Pacific counterparts. The top three activities for Thai travellers are tours and attractions (71 per cent), food and dining (69 per cent) and shopping (68 per cent). On the other hand, top activities for overall Asia-Pacific travellers are food and dining (73 per cent), shopping (69 per cent) and tours and attractions (64 per cent).
Visiting cultural locales (52 per cent) are top among the key activities enjoyed by Thai travellers, followed by visits to theme parks and attractions (34 per cent) and religious monuments (29 per cent).
For food and dining, Thai travellers opt for eating at local casual and small restaurants (39 per cent) and tasting the street food (30 per cent).
Shopping for Thai travellers is all about venues that carry a range of brands and products, at duty-free shopping in destination airports (34 per cent) and large and medium retailers (33 per cent), and small retailers (30 per cent).
“We are privileged to be sharing these key findings about Thai travellers’ trends and behaviour,” concluded Suripong. “We hope that by sharing these insights, tourism operators and the broader industry can leverage this data for the sustainable development of tourism in Thailand.” 
 

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