TripAdvisor unveils Thailand inbound study findings

BANGKOK, Thailand – TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel site from reviews to bookings, revealed top inbound countries interested in Thailand, as well as the most searched destinations in the country, and interesting international travel behaviour.

According to recent TripAdvisor inbound travel data for Thailand, China continues to lead the way with the highest percentage increase in search traffic¹, with a year-on-year increase of 30%, outpacing the overall international average of 4%. India and Indonesia followed in second and third place, with year-on-year search increases of 16% and 12% respectively.

When examining the total inbound search traffic for Thailand, China tops the list followed by the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and Russia. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), China and Russia were also two of the largest contributors to Thailand's inbound tourism and inbound expenditure² in the first half of 2017.

Top five inbound countries by overall search traffic³:

"Thailand has something for every traveller with its tropical beaches, heritage towns, delicious food, and an ever cosmopolitan capital city," said Grant Colquhoun, TripAdvisor spokesperson. "The inbound travel data that is available on TripAdvisor provides local hospitality businesses and service providers with insights on travel trends and consumer behaviours to help them more effectively capture and cater to a global audience of high intent travellers."

He added, "We are also encouraged to see that accommodations in Thailand are becoming more engaged on TripAdvisor with 53% of them responding to travel reviews within the last month⁴."

Leading Thai hospitality management company Onyx Hospitality is utilising these insights to drive business strategies.

"International travellers make up a significant percentage of our business and we constantly adapt to evolving behaviours and expectations that they have when they visit our hotels in Thailand," said Chutima Fuangkham, Onyx Hospitality Group spokesperson. "Using TripAdvisor has allowed us to better understand the sentiments and behaviours of these travellers across all stages of their trips – from trip planning, duration and the behaviour they have in-destination – helping us to better shape our business strategy and make our offerings more relevant to our guests."

Read more...