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 percent) said they preferred to stay in Thailand, though 23 percent appeared brave enough to plan overseas trips.
The survey also highlighted the top three factors that make Thais comfortable to start traveling again: being vaccinated (67 percent), a drop in the number of infections worldwide (55 percent), and the availability of Covid-19 insurance (41 percent).
Suripong Tantiyanon, Visa Thailand’s country manager, said people are still cautious about traveling 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 percent said they would like to travel through a “travel bubble”, but not in the near future. A third or 33 percent 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.