The trend of Thai people travelling inside the country points to short trips rather than long-distance travel, while the revenue from domestic travel is expected to increase one percent from last year to 370,000 million baht in 2007.
According to Kasikorn Research Centre, a major factor in this change of Thai travelling habit was the higher cost of fuel that made people think twice before planing their trips.
Bangkokians, who constitute a major group of these travellers, trend to focus more on destinations not far from their homes such as to the east and the central region where the number of travellers increased 28.1 percent and 26 percent respectively.
The centre predicted the number of domestic travellers to rise three percent this year from 2006 generating some 370,000 million baht, an increase of one percent from last year.
The centre suggested that there should be campaigns to encourage travellers to spend more days in places they visit by promoting more activities, encouraging people to travel during weekdays and also promote trips for making-merit or cultural tours which is a hot trend among Thais people today.
Phuket attraction
Phuket has just had its new tourism attraction opened next to Sarasin Bridge that links Phangnga and Phuket.
Called Phuket Gateway, it was built on 25 rai of land by the Provincial Administration Organisation with a budget of 50 million baht. It is a rest area and an information centre for visitors. It also has a library with Internet, restaurants and OTOP shops selling souvenirs.
Hi-tech travel assist
ESRI (Thailand) has launched Garmin Nuvi 200, an entry-level GPS (global positioning system) supporting Thai language.
The hand-held personal travel assistance comes with a touch screen with two-or-three dimensional maps supporting JPEG picture viewing. It can guide a driver turn-by-turn by voice.
Other features include a world travel clock, currency converter, measurement converter, calculator, an anti-theft feature and supports SD cards and bluetooth connection.
The price is at 14,700 baht and it at available in Se-Ed bookstores and IT superstores.
'Conde Nast' survey
Thailand has been voted as the third favourite country to travel to by some 30,000 readers of Conde Nast Traveler, a US magazine, during its 10th annual awards that honour most popular destinations around the world.
The 2007 Conde' Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards honour the best in the world in categories of hotels, airlines, islands, tour operators, spas, cruise lines, cities and countries.
Last year, Thailand was ranked in seventh place by its worldwide readers and this year it climbed to third, after India and Italy. In fourth and fifth place were Australia and New Zealand respectively.
India was also voted as top in culture, value of money and variety of attractions, while Thailand top scored for its friendliness. New Zealand scored highly for scenery and Italy for the best food and climate in the world.
The Maldives was once again the readers' number one island. Sydney was adjudged the favourite city and London best for its restaurants, nightlife and entertainment.
Outbound travel rises
MasterCard predicts steady growth of outbound travellers across the Asia-Pacific region in the second half of this year.
Dr Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, economic advisor to MasterCard, cited robust economy which in turn has supported the tourism industry in the region as the reason.
"This positive forecast for outbound travel corresponds with increasing personal disposable income and availability of low cost travel options, which has made travel accessible to not just the mass affluent but the expanding middle class in Asia-Pacific," he noted.
Released twice a year, the survey titled "MasterIndex of Travel" covered 5,407 participants from 13 countries including Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Outbound travel from South Korea is expected to show a significant leap to 12.5 percent, with 7.1 million Koreans expected to travel for work and leisure. Other markets anticipating an increase in year-on-year growth include the Philippines (5.7 percent), Australia and Indonesia (5.6 percent), Hong Kong (4.9 percent) and New Zealand (2.1 percent).
However, the survey found a slowdown in the rate of growth for outbound travel from China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.
Malaysia and Taiwan are expected to power ahead in the number of outbound travellers. Over 23.8 million outbound visits are expected to be made by Malaysians for work and leisure in the next six months.
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/130907_Horizons/13Sep2007_hori04.php
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