Majority of Thais prefer domestic vacations next year, survey finds
Most Thais will take vacations within the country next year because travel time is shorter and safer, a recent survey conducted by credit-card provider Visa found.
More than half of the respondents (51 per cent) said they preferred to stay in Thailand, though 23 per cent appeared brave enough to plan overseas trips.
The survey also highlighted the top three factors that make Thais comfortable to start travelling again: being vaccinated (67 per cent), a drop in the number of infections worldwide (55 per cent) and the availability of Covid-19 insurance (41 per cent).
Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa Thailand’s country manager, said people are still cautious about travelling and would much rather opt for a safer and more familiar destination. He advised tourism operators across Thailand to focus on these issues when getting ready to welcome tourists again.
Meanwhile, Japan is the most popular overseas destination for Thais, followed by China, Australia, South Korea, Canada and France.
As for travel demand, 48 per cent said they would like to travel through a “travel bubble”, but not in the near future. A third or 33 per cent said they would start booking trips as soon as a travel bubble is launched, while the rest said they would much rather stay in Thailand.
