Japan top of the travel pile

Asians place Japan at the top of their travel wish-list according to a MasterCard poll released Monday. The MasterCard’s poll was conducted 13 September to 11 November across 24 countries in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa to monitor travel trends for the first half of 2011.

Elements of the survey that focused on Thai travel habits showed they were most interested in Asia-Pacific destinations (91%), followed by Europe (33%), North America (24%) and Middle East (2%). However, the five countries that Thais wants to travel to the most are Japan (51%), China (31%), Hong Kong (27%), Korea (22%) and Singapore (15%). In a wider context, the poll showed that the seven countries Asians want to travel to in the first half of 2011 are: Japan (26%); China (21%); Australia (19%); Hong Kong (18%); USA (16%); Taiwan (14%) and Thailand (13%).

All of the top scoring destinations in the Thai travellers’ segment of the poll have invested in tourism or trade offices in Thailand to promote awareness. Australia closed its tourism office in Thailand in 2009 and its subsequent promotions have been low key. New Zealand has an office and invests heavily in internet based promotions, but it too failed to gain a spot in the top five choices. For January to September, 2,625,912 Thais travelled overseas, up 18.71% from 2,211,966 in the same period last year.

According to MasterCard Worldwide Thailand vice president and country manager, Eileen Wee, public holidays and festivals in Thailand encourage outbound travel. The big holidays are Father’s Day, Constitution Day, Christmas, New Year and the Songkhran festival. Also low-cost airline deals are making it cheaper for Thais to travel in the region. The basic holiday essentials – airline ticket and hotels – are packaged cheaper to Hong Kong and Singapore than Phuket or Samui.

Source=ttrweekly