Most Thais deterred from overseas trips
Most Thais are expected to make domestic leisure trips rather than overseas visits during the remainder of the year due to their lack of disposable income and a general economic decline in the region, executives of MasterCard said on Wednesday.
The latest findings on Thai consumer behaviour were unveiled by the global financial-services group, which conducted a survey on Thai consumer confidence earlier in the year.
The survey found that while Thais remained optimistic towards the future, most respondents preferred making domestic rather than foreign leisure trips during the rest of the year.
The survey was conducted in May and June, following the Thai economy’s contraction in the first quarter, and found that consumers preferred to visit Chiang Mai, Phuket and Koh Samui as their top three destinations.
Sixty-five per cent of respondents said the main barrier in the way of taking international leisure trips was a lack of disposable income.
Japan, China and Australia were their top three international destinations, as opposed to countries further afield.
Matthew Driver, MasterCard group executive, global products and solutions for Asia-Pacific, said that confidence was a more nuanced story for Asia-Pacific markets this year, as economic uncertainty had begun to impact more developing markets.
India is the only market in Asia-Pacific in which consumers are extremely optimistic about the future.
Meanwhile, the economic outlook has softened in Southeast Asia, and especially so in Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand, which all recorded double-digit declines in confidence.
There was also a drop in confidence in Malaysia, he added.
The survey also found that Thais spend an average of Bt71,000 overall on an international leisure trip, and Bt15,000 on a domestic trip.
The cost of getting to the destination takes up the biggest portion of a Thai’s international travel budget, while they spend more on eating out when travelling domestically.
MasterCard is planning to launch an attractive campaign created specifically to boost spending in Thailand as part of tourism-restoration plans, said Antonio Sebastian T Corro, country manager for Thailand and Myanmar.
The company aims to encourage its cardholders, both locals and foreigners, to make more purchases off line and online and via the Internet, particularly using their mobile phones to do so.
This year, MasterCard is focusing more on mobile transactions after seeing that nearly three-fifths of Thais made purchases through their smart phones, an increase of 7.6 per cent over the past two years, he said.
Online shopping has become more important for Thais, with those accessing the Internet for online shopping increasing by 9.6 per cent since 2012, he added.
MasterCard has found that Thais’ preference for shopping online via mobile is due to convenience (60.1 per cent of respondents), apps that make it easy (47.6 per cent) and ability to do it on the go (45.5 per cent).
Meanwhile, the preference for shopping in an actual store as opposed to doing so via a smart phone has dropped 22.1 per cent since 2012.
