Ministry of Tourism survey shows tourists enjoy Thailand in 2021

Many expats might get complacent with all that Thailand has to offer, and be cynical about whether it’s worth the risk and complexity of coming to Thailand during the Covid-19 pandemic. But a survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports revealed that foreign tourists have an overall positive view of travelling in Thailand. In fact, the average ratings on 14 key factors have increased from a similar survey last year, according to the survey released on Christmas Eve.

The survey titled “Attitudes and Satisfaction of Thai and foreign Tourists Who Travel in Thailand” was conducted in 10 tourist provinces over the last 6 months of the year by polling 2,000 international travellers in face to face interviews. The Deputy Permanent Secretary announced the results.

14 categories were used to determine tourists overall satisfaction and after crunching the numbers, the ministry revealed that tourists gave Thailand an 87.7% satisfaction rating. The previous survey in 2020 had only rated Thailand at 84.9% satisfaction. The 14 categories they questioned foreign tourists on were:

The survey showed the overall happiness tourists felt about their trips to Thailand and detailed the top 3 favourite things and bottom 3 satisfaction scores out of the 14. The 3 areas Thailand scored highest in the survey were:

1. 91.4% – Thai people. Tourists love how welcoming, helpful, and friendly the people of Thailand treated them.
2. 90.8% – Health care services. International travellers found Thailand’s healthcare options affordable and decent.
3. 90.3% – Accommodation services. Hotels were deemed to be reasonably priced, hospitable, and convenient. Tourists said the SHA and SHA+ standards were good too.

The bottom 3 categories were:

1. The Thailand Tourism Directory website – Many tourists had never heard of the website yet.
2. Eco-tourism – Tourists found that eco-tourism places had the dreaded dual pricing for locals and foreigners plus issues with toilets.
3. Sea/Beach attractions – Though Thailand is known for its beaches, Covid-19 has closed many of them, and tourists complained about uncleanliness and dirty bathrooms on the beaches that were open.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News