Expedia data shows tourist growth areas

Pimpawee Nopakitgumjorn, marketing chief at Expedia Group, said: “Hoteliers can effectively reap the benefits of this new campaign by aligning their properties with one or more of its themes. When linked with analytics and coupled with the appropriate outreach such as Expedia Group’s package offerings, hotel partners can effectively target new markets and find travellers who may potentially be more interested in their hotel due to a match in what they are looking for and what the hotel has to offer.”
There are many emerging trends found from Expedia Group’s 675 million monthly site visits from across the globe:
In arts and culture, Chiang Rai and Sukhothai recorded healthy growth of over 50 per cent year on year (YoY) in inbound demand. 
Chiang Rai recorded 80 per cent YoY inbound growth thanks to hill tribes and their distinctive customs that make for an intriguing cultural mix. Chiang Mai, on the other hand, experienced a relatively slower but still healthy growth over 30 per cent.
While Asian travellers seemed more interested in experiencing customs, European tourists from France, Germany and United Kingdom showed greater interest in exploring Thailand’s historical ruins.
Sukhothai, known for its ruins of Thailand’s first kingdom dating back over 700 years, experienced over 50 per cent YoY in inbound demand. Europeans alone accounted for more than half of this growth.
In beaches and nature, package bookings drove higher average daily rates in beach destinations while Khao Yai National Park registered three-digit growth. 
While the top five most visited beach destinations among international travellers remained the same as in 2016, Pattaya led the pack with YoY growth over 40 per cent followed by Phuket and Hua Hin with more modest growth of over 20 per cent. On the other hand, Koh Samui and Krabi recorded relatively slower growth at around 10 per cent.
Hotel partners operating in these top five beach destinations were told that Expedia Group’s package travellers paid 1.2 times more for their accommodation compared to standalone bookings. The Expedia Group’s packages offer both flights and hotels together. On average, package travellers tend to stay one more day and they are 50 per cent less likely to cancel their trips due to the non-refundable flights, compared with standalone bookings. The United States, Australia and the United Kingdom led the growth for package demand to Thailand’s key beach destinations.
Less visited Koh Chang and Koh Lipe both recorded a healthy over 30 per cent growth.
Khao Yai National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site teeming with wildlife and thick jungles, recorded over 160 per cent growth YoY. Over half of these visitors are from South East Asian countries with Singapore topping the list, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of Khao Yai’s visitors.
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