#Agoda reveals hotspots: #Bangkok heats up rankings

 

Agoda unveiled the hottest must-visit destinations with the Big Mango, Bangkok sizzling in second place.

Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam emerged as the unrivalled favourites, igniting a tourism frenzy in the first month alone. Moreover, Malaysia and South Korea are hot on their heels, rounding up the top five inbound markets.

According to Agoda’s January 2024 booking rankings, Asian travel destinations have kicked off the year with unparalleled vigour. Zooming into city-specific allure, Japan’s magnetic hubs Tokyo and Osaka continue to allure adventurers, maintaining their stronghold from the previous year.

Bangkok (No.2), Seoul (No.4), and Kuala Lumpur (No.5) also clinch spots on the coveted list, underscoring the charm of Asian metropolises. This data shines a spotlight on the burgeoning fascination with both established icons and urban gems across the continent.

Omri Morgenstern, the Chief Executive Officer at Agoda, shared his insights.

“The irresistible allure of markets like Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and the magnetic pull of cities such as Tokyo and Bangkok, continue to captivate adventurers globally. With tourism topping the agenda of numerous established and emerging destinations, 2024 promises to be a stellar year for travel enthusiasts. At Agoda, we’re committed to fuelling this excitement by offering travellers unbeatable deals, making globe-trotting dreams a budget-friendly reality.”

A comparative analysis of accommodation searches between January last year and January 2024 reveals India as the unrivalled champion in soaring popularity, reported Antara News.

Following suit, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Italy have showcased remarkable surges compared to the previous year.

Source: The Thaiger & AGODA

#Bangkok tops list of trending Airbnb destinations this year

Thailand’s capital topped a list of trending Airbnb destinations in 2022. Based on searches made in the first to third quarters of the year for check-ins, Bangkok was the #1 most trending destination for Airbnb guests across the globe.

The entire list is as follows: 

Bangkok, Thailand

Sydney, Australia

Málaga, Spain

Seoul, South Korea

Melbourne, Australia

Itapema, Brazil

Angra dos Reis, Brazil

Capão da Canoa, Brazil

Auckland, New Zealand

Brisbane, Australia

In searches for future check-ins in 2023, Bangkok was #5, Nation Thailand reported. The list of top trending travels spots for Airbnb in 2023 were:

Málaga, Spain

Sydney, Australia

Melbourne, Australia

Auckland, New Zealand

Bangkok, Thailand

Airbnb’s General Manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, Amanpreet Bajaj, said…

“The reopening of more countries this year also unlocked pent-up demand from international travellers eager to reconnect with loved ones or visit their favourite destinations once more.”

Earlier this year, there was a major jump in searches for Airbnb accommodation in Thailand, according to Airbnb data. The data shows that between January and March this year, the number of searches for Airbnb accommodation in the kingdom shot up by 180% compared to the same time frame last year.

Both Thai and international travellers especially searched for Airbnb accommodations in hotspots including Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui.

In September, however, Airbnb said tourists in Thailand were opting for ‘off-the-beaten-track’ destinations, benefiting the environment and local economies.

According to Airbnb, more tourists are venturing out of these hubs and into “lesser-known” destinations such as Koh Lanta, Trat, Pai and Cha-Am.

But based on the recent list of trending Airbnb destinations, it appears that Bangkok is still at the top.

Between January 1 and December 20, Thailand welcomed 10.9 million tourists from around the world, the governor said this morning. 

Tourist arrivals in Thailand could hit the 11 million mark before the year is through, according to the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supaporn.

With High Season in full swing, Yuthasak said he expects tourist arrivals to reach 11.5 million before the year’s end.

Source - The Thaiger

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Shunned by Chinese, Thai tourism hotspot braces for rare slump

Hotels on Thailand's most popular holiday island have been forced to slash prices with rooms left vacant and beaches sparse as tourist chiefs struggle with a plunge in Chinese visitors caused by the US trade war and a stronger baht.

Located on the Andaman Sea and known for its beaches and nightlife, sun-drenched Phuket was the most visited destination in the country last year after Bangkok and a good gauge of the state of its crucial travel industry.

Tourism accounts for 18 percent of Thailand's gross domestic product and Chinese holidaymakers make up more than a quarter of total arrivals. 

But while 2.2 million people from the country visited in 2018, according to official figures, numbers for January-September were down almost a fifth on-year.

Claude de Crissey, Honorary Consul of France in Phuket and owner of about 40 rooms in the popular Patong Beach area, said Chinese tourists are usually present even during the current low season.

"That was not the case this year," he said, adding he had to lower his prices by as much as 50 percent. 

The problem is not just in Phuket, with hotels also struggling to fill rooms in the seaside resort of Pattaya on the mainland and Koh Samui island.

Trade tensions with the US have already made some Chinese reluctant to take holidays owing to uncertainty back home, while the Thai baht has risen around 10 percent against the yuan this year. 

A boating disaster off Phuket's coast that killed 47 Chinese holidaymakers has also scared some off.

"We are worried," an industry insider told AFP, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the topic in a country where tourism provides tens of thousands of jobs. 

Adding to the headache is the fact that more than 3,000 new hotel rooms are being constructed on the island, raising the question of who will fill them.

"In terms of business, it's not good," said Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, vice president of the association of hotels in Thailand and director of Vijitt Resort.

"Because...we have more hotels, more rooms to sell, we have more restaurants, more coffee shops."

Still, tourism authority chairman Yuthasak Supasorn told AFP he remained "optimistic", adding: "We should reach our goal of 39.8 million foreign visitors" this year.

 However, that is only up from 38.2 million in 2018, much less than the jump seen from the previous year's total of 35.6 million.

 

Counting on India 

Now hoteliers and tour package operators are targeting visitors from elsewhere, particularly India, which experts see as a huge untapped market.

"We are counting on the Indians to revive the sector," Kongsak said.

A rapid expansion of the middle class in India, increased direct flights and visa-free travel have prompted Thailand to revise forecasts upwards.

It now expects two million Indian tourists this year, after an increase of nearly 25 percent on-year in the first seven months.

But for now, the lower arrivals is evident on the streets of Phuket.

"I've never seen anything as bad as what it is at the moment," said Paul Scott from Australia, who said he has been coming to Thailand for 15 years.

He mainly blamed the stronger baht for the drop-off but also the fact that Thailand wasn't the untouched vacation paradise it once was. "Now it's not so new...and it's not cheap," he said.

Source - JakartaPost

Surge of Thai visitors lifts Da Nang hopes for tourism market diversity

 Da Nang, which wants to reduce its dependence on Chinese and South Korean tourists, is seeing a jump in the number of Thai visitors.

With 60 weekly flights connecting Vietnam’s third largest city with major Thai destinations, the number of Thai arrivals to Da Nang quadrupled year-on-year in the first seven months of this year to almost 107,000.

Thais accounted for 6 percent of Da Nang's total foreign arrivals, becoming the third largest group after South Koreans (1 million, making up 57 percent) and Chinese (500,000 or 26 percent), according to the city’s tourism department.

Domestic and foreign carriers, betting on this trend, have been racing to launch more flights. Vietnamese budget carrier Vietjet Air last year launched flights from Da Nang to Bangkok. In April Malaysian-owned budget airline Thai AirAsia began a daily service from Chiang Mai to Da Nang.

Da Nang is a major economy-tourism hub that attracts many foreign visitors, including Thai tourists, all year round, Santisuk Khlongchaiya, head of Thai AirAsia’s commercial operations, said.

 From Da Nang, tourists can easily travel to world-renowned destinations such as Hoi An, Hue and My Son, he added.

Da Nang, home to Asia’s most beautiful beach, My Khe, in the central region and next door to the UNESCO heritage site Hoi An, an ancien town, has long been a favorite for South Korean and Chinese visitors.

However, its heavy dependence on the two markets poses a risk, city tourism officials said.

"The Chinese market is volatile due to political and economic reasons," Truong Hong Hanh, Deputy Director of the city Tourism Department, said.

"The surge in number of Chinese arrivals also presents numerous challenges for the Vietnamese government such as ‘zero dollar tours,’ the use of Chinese electronic wallets such as WeChat Pay and AliPay and illegal payment devices at travel hotspots frequented by Chinese tourists that could circumvent Vietnam’s banking system and national regulations, leading to loss of tax revenues and other potential problems."

Meanwhile, the overseas travel trend of South Korean tourists is "very changeable", Hanh added.

Da Nang tourism authorities said they were therefore looking at diversifying the tourism market away from Chinese and South Koreans by working with airlines to launch more flights to and from other markets.

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Tourists enjoy the blue sea in Da Nang in central Vietnam. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Dong.

Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Air is expected to begin services between Jakarta and Da Nang, while Cambodia’s Angkor Air is set to launch flights from Phnom Penh and Vientiane, both by year-end.

City authorities also s  aid they are striving to attract more Middle Eastern visitors, whose spending is higher than that of other Asians and Europeans.

Last year Qatar Airways began flying from the Qatari capital Doha to Da Nang.

The city's foreign arrivals in January-July was 1.9 million, up 11.2 percent year-on-year, with some of the biggest source markets posting huge growth. The number of visitors from Taiwan increased by 86 percent, while it was 81.5 percent for Germany, 79 percent for India, 70 percent for Malaysia, 68 percent for France, and 53 percent for Singapore.

Da Nang, which has won global attention with its annual international fireworks competitions in June-July and its spectacular Golden Bridge, has been improving its transport, healthcare, commercial, and services infrastructure to cope with the rising number of tourists.

Images of the two giant hands holding up the 150 meters long Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills have gone viral since its launch in June last year.

The New York Times earlier this year included the city in its 52 best places to visit in 2019 while Australian travel website Finder listed it among 10 trending global destinations this year.

Last year Da Nang received 7.6 million visitors, 2.87 million of them foreigners, a 23.3 percent increase year-on-year.

Video

Source - VN Express

Smoking to be stubbed out on Thai beaches

Smokers who flout a smoking ban on 20 of Thailand's most famous tourist beaches will face a $3,000 fine or up to a year in prison, Thai authorities have said.      

The ban, which comes into force in November, follows a clean-up of nearly 140,000 cigarette butts from a 2.5 kilometre (1.5 mile) stretch of the famed Patong beach in Phuket island province.

    Its introduction coincides with Thailand's peak tourist season and will be enforced in visitor hotspots including Krabi, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Phuket and Phang Nga.

    "These beaches are among the most beautiful in Southeast Asia, and the aim is to keep them that way," Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said in a statement on Monday.

    Smokers will have to use designated areas with proper waste disposal for cigarette butts, he added.

    Those caught lighting up on the beach could face jail or a 100,000 baht ($3,000) fine, according to TAT. 

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    The edict is the latest effort to rein in Thailand's free-wheeling tourism industry. 

    The sector is a crucial pillar of Thailand's economy, catering to more than 30 million travellers per year.

    But the huge numbers of arrivals have also threatened to spoil some of the kingdom's idyllic beaches, with litter and unchecked development damaging local ecosystems.

    Thailand is also trying to crack down on lax safety standards that riddle the tourism industry, after waves of complaints that visitors are overcharged or not adequately protected on boats and jet-skis.