Thais cautiously welcome international travel
While Thailand is gradually welcoming international tourists with initiatives such as the Sandbox and the government’s four month opening plan, a survey by digital travel platform, Agoda, found while Thai people expect outbound travel to return soon – with one in two think travel in Asia will be possible within the next six months and 38% for travel outside Asia, they are not inclined to hop on a plane to travel just yet until they feel more assured by health and safety protocols and vaccination rates.
Travel expectations
Half of Thai respondents anticipate that travel within Asia will be possible in the next six months, with 2 in 5 (40%) anticipating some travel restrictions in place or travel through travel bubble or corridors only.
When it comes to taking trips after restrictions are lifted, 50% plan to travel in Asia and 41% outside of Asia within a year or more, while 4% and 5% respectively hoping to travel immediately. Just under a quarter, 23%, don’t plan to travel within Asia until at least 80% of the world’s population is vaccinated against COVID-19. The figure is even higher for travel outside Asia (28%) and is the highest among Baby Boomer (1946 – 1964) 32% and Gen X (1965 – 1980) 29%.
Travel confidence
The Agoda survey found that the top three factors that will give Thai travelers the confidence to explore again are (#1) health and safety protocols followed by accommodation, (#2) knowing that hotel service staff are vaccinated, and (#3) being vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one shot.
- The trends go the same across all generations, except for Silent generation (1918-1945) who see being vaccinated as important as health and safety protocols followed by accommodations.
- Male respondents view vaccinated hotel service staff and themselves being vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one shot equally important.
About the data
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Singapore Pte Ltd. Total sample size was 2072 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 26th– 30th August 2021. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Thai adults (aged 18+) online.
YouGov is a global provider of analysis and data generated by research in 43 markets from an online panel of over 7 million. As market research pioneers YouGov’s data consistently outperforms others on accuracy, as concluded by Pew Research.
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