Trip.com foresees significant rise in Thailand tourism expenditure

On February 8, Bangkok bore witness to a revelation from Trip.com Group, a leading global travel service provider. The data released by the company predicts a notable increase in total trip expenditure for inbound bookings in Thailand.

A substantial uptick of 44.3% has been projected for this year’s Chinese New Year (CNY) festive period compared to the CNY period in 2023. Similarly, an estimated increase in expenditure by 70.8% for outbound travellers has been reported.

One could attribute this surge in spending to the trend of Southeast Asian tourists embarking on longer-haul trips. In the 2024 CNY period, a significant shift has been noted with travellers exploring beyond Southeast Asia (SEA). The previous year recorded 72% of CNY travel within SEA, which has dipped to 50.2% this year. The rest are venturing to destinations further away, reported The Pattaya News.

In a predictable pattern, countries in SEA, which observe public holidays for Chinese New Year, such as Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Brunei, witness more travel during the CNY week compared to countries without CNY public holidays, including Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. Countries observing CNY public holidays account for 69.1% of all SEA bookings during the CNY week, as opposed to 59% for the week preceding CNY.

Booking windows

Two other trends strongly emerge across markets: the extension of booking windows and the popularity of theme parks. Travellers are planning their trips well in advance. For instance, the booking window for trips originating from Thailand has seen a fourfold increase from nine days to 40 days this CNY, compared to the previous year. A similar trend is evident in Malaysia, where the booking window leapt from 12 days to 51 days. Singapore also saw a two-and-a-half times increase from 18 days to 46 days.

Theme parks continue to dominate as the most popular attractions for Southeast Asian tourists. The top choice for travellers from Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia is Hong Kong Disneyland. The rest of the top five overseas attractions for Thai travellers include Universal Studios Japan, Tokyo Disneyland, Universal Studios Singapore, and Warner Bros Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter.

Diane Cui, General Manager at Trip.com Thailand, announced last week that the company collaborated with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to host a Super World Trip BOSS livestream session in Bangkok, which grossed 100 million baht of General Merchandise Volume (GMV) in a day.

“We are expecting the travel industry in Thailand to continue its healthy recovery this year, especially with the recent signing of the visa-free travel agreement between Thai and Chinese governments, and look forward to welcoming more visitors from around the world to this beautiful country.”