Latest Hotel Demand Trends in Thailand Unveiled by Expedia

The inbound demand to Thailand has shown a 10% inrease on year-to-year bases over the past 12 months. The USA market showed the highest rate of growth on Expedia of about 20%. While China is the leading tourist source market for Thailand, based on bookings via Expedia the Chinese are currently a runner-up, but for the first time during the last two years Chinese travellers surpassed those from Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
It is also Chinese travellers together with their Indian counterparts who are more interested in premium accommodation. Over 60% and 55% bookings made by Chinese and Indians respectively were in 4-star and 5-star hotels. It definitely shows that Thai’s government policy of attracting high-end arrivals from these countries starts yielding results.

The most popular destinations where accommodations were booked more often are rather predictably Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya. Hua Hin, Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lipe each doubled the number of bookings over the last year and can be considered the new rising markets.

Interestingly, the Expedia research shows that 80% of international travellers prefer to book flights and accommodation in one place. The driving force behind this trend is obviously Chinese tourists who are the main buyers of packages to Thailand.

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