Accor monitors business travel trends

BANGKOK, 20 August 2012: Thailand is gaining ground  as a business travel destination in the Asia Pacific region, while it ranks top for attracting the most female business travellers, according to the latest Accor Asia-Pacific Business Traveller Research.

Last week, Accor revealed its research on business travellers in the Asia-Pacific for the first half of 2012. Based on the group’s loyalty reward programme, it gained feedback through an online survey involving 2,586 people in nine countries in Asia Pacific. The study ran from 10 to 16 July.

The top spend on business travel went to Singapore, followed by India and Hong Kong based on average length of stay and daily spend on accommodation.

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Fewer Malaysians visit Thailand

BANGKOK, 16 August 2012: Thailand is losing tourists from Malaysia, according to the latest data from the Tourism Department of Ministry of Tourism and Sports released yesterday.

Arrivals from Malaysia fell by more than 20% in July after percentage decreases slowed in May and June. Based on the decline from Malaysia and a 30% rise in Chinese tourists, the China market has emerged as the dominant supplier.

Traditionally, Malaysia has always been Thailand’s top inbound travel market, but that is now likely to be challenged as the boom in Chinese travel to the region alters the market mix.

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Tourism to Cambodia grow in June

BANGKOK, 14 August 2012: Tourist statistics in June showed arrivals from Thailand to Cambodia continued to improve, while arrivals from Laos surpassed the usual market leader China for the first time.

Cambodia’s Statistics and Tourist Information Department, Ministry of Tourism reported arrivals from Thailand in June doubled at 103% to 13,699 ranking it fifth in the visitor supply market.

In June, visits from Laos also continued to spiral in June, surging 85.6% (22,174). China visits grew 39.8% to 19,918, but it slipped into second place after Laos.

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How amazing is Thailand?

BANGKOK, 1 August 2012: Tourists believe Thailand is still a vibrant destination and its people friendly to foreigners, but security is still the top concern that the industry needs to address, according to a recent Tourism Authority of Thailand study “Is Thailand still Amazing?

TAT released details of its latest Thailand Brand survey, Tuesday, that reflected feedback from 14 major markets namely Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United States, United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, Korea, India, Russia, Germany, Sweden and Italy.

TAT assigned the Eureka Consulting Company to conduct the survey which took around eight months to complete. The research was based on 3,640 interviews (around 250 from each country). It was a mix of people who had visited Thailand in the past and those who had never visited the country.

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Growth rate slips in Asia Pacific

BANGKOK, 1 August 2012: Collective international arrivals into Asia Pacific destinations grew by 4% year-on-year during April, according to preliminary data released yesterday by the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

In percentage growth terms, this result was relatively constrained across the region compared to the robust expansion achieved during the first quarter of the year. A number of factors underlie this result including a comparison with the high

numeric base of April 2011, which in turn was influenced by a rebound in travel demand following a number of major natural disasters in the region, and an earlier Easter holiday period this year shifting some visitor volume to March.

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Thailand travel steady in June

BANGKOK, 11 July 2012: Thailand welcomed 1,624,859 visitors representing a gain of 9.44% in June according to the latest data from the Tourism Department of Ministry of Tourism and Sports released yesterday.

Malaysia was the top supplier in June despite a  registering decline in that market.

Security issues, following a car bomb attack in Hat Yai, 31 March, were still impacting on travel from Malaysia. The percentage decrease was 22.18% in April, 16.42% in May and 11.43% in June.

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Vietnam cities report gains

HANOI, 10 July 2012: The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism reports the Vietnamese capital attracted 8.33 million tourist arrivals during January to June this year representing an increase of 20% year-on-year.

The city, which was listed as one of the cheapest global tourist destinations for the summer by TripAdvisor, attracted over 1.03 million foreign tourists during the first half of the year, a rise of 20% over the same period last year.

Visitors to Hanoi came from over 160 countries including western Europe, Northeast Asia, Australia and North America .

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Vietnam’s tourism loses pace

HANOI, 9 July 2012: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates the country welcomed 417,429 international travellers in June representing a decline of 6.61% from 446,966 visits during the same month last year.

Thailand’s outbound trips to Vietnam ranked 10th place with 15,493 visits increasing 49%  when compared to the same month last year.

China continued as Vietnam’s top source supplying 79,020 visits, but decreased 31.66% from 115,621 visits followed by South Korea, Japan, the United States, Taiwan and Cambodia.

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Indian visitors turn into big spenders

BANGKOK, 3 July 2012: Kasikorn Research Centre in its latest tourism forecast estimated 1.07 million Indian tourists will visit Thailand this year representing a 20% on last year.

It claims revenue could reach Bt37,000 million increasing 21.9% on last year performance.

The centre said the Indian market continues to grow from a base of 135,000 visits in 1997 to 892,000 visits in 2011. It has grown consistently at around 15% per year.

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Vietnam figures falter

HANOI, 3 July 2012: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism estimates the country welcomed 456,749 international travellers in May representing a decline of 4.40% from 480,886 visits during the same month last year.

Thailand’s outbound trips to Vietnam returned to the top 10 markets’ list in10th place with 21,828 visits, increasing 48.89% from 14,660 visits during the same month in 2011.

China continued as the top market supplying 90,064 visits, but arrivals dropped 10% from 130,713. Other top markets were South Korea, Japan, the United States, Taiwan and Cambodia.

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