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Friday, March 29, 2024

Most Thais stay close to home during the upcoming New Year holidays

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According to a survey by Suan Dusit, most respondents have said they will not travel during the upcoming New Year’s holiday due to concerns about the Covid19 Omicron variant and its cost.

The survey collected the opinions of 1,304 people across occupations, educational backgrounds and ages between December 6 and 9 about their plans for the long vacation.

The survey found that 40.57% of respondents will not travel, 34.35% said they would definitely go somewhere and 25.08% said they hadn’t made up their mind yet.

Of the 40.57% who say they are not going anywhere, 80.58% admitted to being concerned about the new strain of the coronavirus, 46.92% said they were having financial difficulties making an impossible trip and 38.85% said they are concerned about traffic congestion at tourist attractions.

Of the 34.35% who said they will definitely travel, 84.78% said they had been fully vaccinated, 63.77% said they would like to take a break and 48.03% said their travel plans would have already been completed.

The top five provinces respondents want to visit are Chiang Mai (41.22%), Chiang Rai (25.68%), Prachuap Khiri Khan 25%, Nan 23.65% and Chonburi 20.27%.

The average planned expenditure for each respondent is 12,857.68 baht, and 85.79% said they would travel by their own car, 57.36% said they would visit tourist attractions with good air circulation and not too crowded, 52, 38 % said they would choose travel destinations that are safe and are taking steps to protect themselves from COVID-19.

Pornphan Buathong, a researcher at Suan Dusit University, said Chiang Mai has been the most popular destination for travellers for the past two years, as the province offers many of the vacation styles travellers want.

She advised the government to promote the “new normal” tourism, with an emphasis on health security in Chiang Mai and other provinces, and develop “methods” for travel and work.

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