Bangkok--29 Nov--Spark Communications
Thai travellers consider visiting tourist attractions as top priority when travelling abroad, while Asia-Pacific travellers are most keen to taste local food.
Over a quarter of Thais (28%) have travelled overseas "solo" in the past two years, ahead of the Global (24%) and Asia-Pacific (23%) averages, according to Visa's Global Travel Intentions Study (the "Study"). The Study examines international travel trends and behavior of 17,500 global travellers from 27 countries including Thailand.
On a macro level, the Study identified those most likely to travel solo are the youngest group of travellers (18-24 years old) at 45 percent and those combining business and leisure travel or "Bleasure" travellers at 37 percent. Travellers aged between 25-35 years old and affluent travellers round out the group most likely to travel solo at 28 percent 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 percent.
Mr. 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. In addition, payment technologies and innovations also give them greater convenience, security and confidence to spend during their time abroad."
When travelling with companions, bigger groups are common. Typically, a group consists of up to five people, on average. Those travelling with others are most likely to be accompanied by their spouses/partners (49%) or friends/colleagues (42%). Travellers aged 45 years old and above or "Superboomers" (72%) 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%), food and dining (69%), and shopping (68%). On the other hand, top activities for Asia-Pacific travellers are food and dining (73%), shopping (69%), and tours and attractions (64%).
Some of the key activities Thai travellers engage in are visits to cultural locales (52%), visits to theme parks and attractions (34%) and religious monuments (29%).
When it comes to food and dining, Thai travellers opt for eating at local casual and small restaurants (39%) and tasting the street food (30%).
Shopping for Thai travellers is all about venues that carry a range of brands and products, at duty-free shopping at destination airports (34%) and large and medium retailers (33%), and small retailers (30%).
"We are privileged to be sharing these key findings about Thai travellers' trends and behaviour. 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," Suripong concluded.
About Visa Inc.
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is the world's leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and a driving force behind the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit About Visa, https://usa.visa.com/visa-everywhere/blog.html and @VisaNews.