Visa processes influence Asians' holiday destination choice: Skyscanner

VISA requirements are a crucial factor in choice of vacation destination for 75 per cent of Asian travellers, while 81 per cent back the idea of an EU-style single visa system for South-east Asia.

Research by Skyscanner that aggregated responses from some 7,000 respondents from Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, India and China found that travel destination choices are “often dictated by visa requirements”, with 90 per cent of the Chinese respondents reflecting this as true.

Although visas play an important role in shaping Asian travel, many of the respondents said they find visa application processes complex. Ten per cent said they have made errors with applications and a further nine per cent reported having a visa application rejected.

Most respondents in Skyscanner’s research also threw their weight behind the idea of a multi-country visa for the countries of South-east Asia (81 per cent).

A visa reciprocity system between countries found supporters in 87 per cent of total participants.

Thailand and Cambodia launched a joint visa (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 3, 2013) end last year, while Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand had also expressed the possibility of a single tourist visa in the past (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 20, 2012).

Meanwhile Japan waived visa requirements for Malaysian and Thai nationals while loosening terms for citizens of the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 14, 2013).

The UK has declared its intentions to streamline visa processes for Chinese citizens (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 16, 2013).

Sourced: ttgasia