Airbnb shares research and best practices for Thailand’s short-term rental industry

Airbnb has today released its proposed regulatory principles for short-term accommodation which would support the Thai Government’s objectives of making Thailand the premier tourist destination in Asia and one of the top tourist destinations globally.

Driven by a desire for more local, unique and authentic travel experiences, the Airbnb community in Thailand continues to grow from strength to strength. Local hospitality entrepreneurs are choosing Airbnb to earn extra income or grow their business giving guests the choice to stay in boutique hotels, vacation rentals or local homes. By helping attract and host more guests, the Airbnb community is growing and diversifying Thai tourism.

Following positive meetings with multiple government departments and industry stakeholders, Airbnb has put forward suggested regulatory principles for short-term accommodation in Thailand. These principles would support local priorities and reflect Thailand’s unique needs, and are consistent with best practices for regulating short-term accommodation regionally and globally.

 

The regulatory principles also reflect latest research, conducted by Expedition Strategies in late 2018, which found 88% of Thai people would support residents in their neighborhoods sharing their homes, 89% would consider using short-term accommodation in the future and 84% believe short-term accommodation is good for communities because it will bring tourists to more areas where they will spend money.

Airbnb’s proposed regulatory principles include:

• Simple and online national-level registration – A simple, swift and online registration system for short-term accommodation to ensure compliance and promote high safety standards.
• Differentiated regulation – A differentiated – rather than one-size-fits-all – approach to regulation which distinguishes between the various types of short-term accommodation activity. For example, regulations should differentiate between someone sharing a room in their home, their own home occasionally or someone with a vacation rental for full commercial purpose.
• Industry-wide approach – There should be an industry-wide approach to regulation and close cooperation between all industry participants and regulators in implementing regulations.
• Tough but fair rules for bad behaviour – The overwhelming majority of hosts and guests are good neighbours and respectful travelers, but there should be penalties that target extremely rare instances of bad behavior.

“Airbnb wants to be a good and responsible partner to Government and do what we can to help Thailand achieve its tourism objectives. Already, our local community is helping grow and diversify the Thai tourism industry and spread the benefits of tourism to local communities across the country, particularly those in emerging destinations like Buriram,” Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia Mich Goh said.

 “For some time, we have listened to local authorities and sought to better understand their priorities. We appreciate the balanced and forward-looking approach the Thai Government has considered to take in developing a modern regulatory framework for short-term accommodation.”

“We respectfully believe the regulatory principles for short-term accommodation we have put forward support the Government’s objectives and strike the right balance. We look forward to continuing to work constructively with the Thai Government to develop regulation that would work in Thailand.

”Earlier this year, Airbnb released new data which found the local host and guest community generated over $33.8 billion baht in estimated direct economic impact in Thailand in 2018, and on average Airbnb guests say 46% of their spending occurs in the neighbourhoods where they stay.

Airbnb is also supporting the growth of emerging destinations in Thailand. In 2018, the number of Airbnb guest arrivals visiting emerging destinations in Thailand grew by 53% year-on-year. Recently, Airbnb launched a new campaign, Sustainable Travel with Airbnb: Beyond Big Cities” to promote emerging destinations such as Buriram.

Source - The Thaiger

FAMILY

FAMILY

On a quiet Christmas day, I thought and searched back.

My grandmother say on her last birthday many years ago: ''Keep the family together''

Years later my beloved mother say similar: ''generations slide on''

Now we have Internet, and we can search for our family.

It is a shame that the whole our family fall in parts.

On this quiet Christmas day , I searched for aunts, uncles, cousins and more .....

And saw many already passed away, and not much more left.

I have only a narrow contact with my only sister, the live also their own lives.

It does not scare me to death, but I'm a little frightened when the time goes so quickly.

I not have more contact with my own 3 children, the hate me about my divorce in the nineties, and my lifestyle.

But the live also like grasshoppers, and have children with different partners, what a shame. 

Their children lose their identity, and search later also about their backgrounds / roots.

Now I think: ''What I'm'' - family, a father, a uncle, a grandfather, a stepfather, a step-grandfather, a stranger, .....

I don't know more what I'm  ?

#Indonesia second in global ranking of digital travelers

United Kingdom-based travel commerce platform Travelport released the results of its Global Digital Traveler Research 2018 recently. The online surveys analyzed different digital traveler habits, with 16,200 respondents participating from 25 countries. 

Indonesia ranks second on the list, a spot higher than last year, as reported by kompas.com.

India tops the list for the second consecutive year, while Brazil, China and Nigeria ranked in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

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Most of the respondents in the surveys said gadgets were considered vital for tourists. In fact, almost half of the respondents said they booked and paid for travel expenses using apps.

Features such as electronic payments, audio search and electronic hotel room were also considered helpful in planning the trips.

Travelport is a travel commerce platform belonging to Travelport Worldwide Ltd. It provides technology, distribution, payment and other solutions for the travel and tourism industry.

 

Source - The JakartaPost

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Holiday trends for the coming year

A research conducted by Booking.com reveals the biggest travel predictions for 2018.

Looking for inspiration for 2018 travel? Facilitating reservations for more than 1.5 million room nights each day, the experts at the leading travel website Booking.com have combined customer insights from over 128 million real guest reviews with research from 19,000 travellers across 26 countries around the world to reveal the biggest travel predictions for 2018. 
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Research commissioned by Booking.com and independently conducted among a sample of adults who have taken a trip in the last 12 months/plan to take a trip in the next 12 months surveyed 18,509 respondents from the UK, US, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, India, Singapore and Russia plus smaller numbers from Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand and Taiwan. Respondents completed an online survey last August. 
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Here are eight travel predictions for the year 2018;
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New tech frontiers
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 FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS
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 Immersive experiences will reach the next level in 2018, with travellers looking to technology to help better understand a destination or accommodation before they book. Artificial intelligence and digital technology are helping consumers turn the corner when it comes to smart destination intuition, reshaping the way we research, book and experience travel. Almost a third (29 per cent) of global travellers say they are comfortable letting a computer plan an upcoming trip based on data from their previous travel history. 

Over six in 10 (64 per cent) of travellers say they would like to “try before they buy” with a virtual reality preview. Taking all the hard work and stress out of decision making, in 2018 technology will continue to guide us seamlessly to find the best stays and experiences for us.
 
From dream to reality The year 2018 is the year to dream big as 45 per cent of travellers have a travel bucket list in mind and the majority of those (82 per cent) will aim to tick one or more destinations off their list in the coming year. The yearning for experiences over material possessions continues and drives our desire for more incredible and memorable trips. 

Most likely to feature on a bucket list is seeing one of the wonders of the world, as almost half of travellers (47 per cent) will look to tick this off in 2018. Over a third (35 per cent) yearn to tantalise their taste buds by trying a local delicacy, 34 per cent want to head to an island paradise and 34 per cent are thrill seekers wanting to visit a world-famous theme park. 

Retro reboot

As well as new experiences, travellers will be revisiting their favorite childhood memories as part of their trips in 2018. Blending the future with the past, next year’s travellers will be inspired to return to previously loved destinations and explore them in a whole new way. 

A third of travellers (34 per cent) will consider a holiday they experienced as a child for 2018.
These popularity of these vintage vacations stems from the feelings of nostalgia and happiness the destinations evoke. Travellers say that former family holidays recall the fondest memories, even more so than childhood sweethearts or family pets. 

Pop culture pilgrimage

In 2018, television shows, films, sport and social media in particular look set to have an increasingly significant sway over booking decisions, as travellers turn to pop culture for their travel inspiration. Reading blogs or watching YouTuber recommendations will spark ideas for four in ten (39 per cent) travellers and on screen locations from television, film or music videos will win over 36 per cent of travellers in the coming year. 

The top television programme locations travellers most want to visit in 2018 are Croatia, Spain and Iceland inspired by “Game of Thrones” (29 per cent), London as seen in “Sherlock” and “The Crown” (21 per cent and 13 per cent), New York and Manhattan from “Billions” (13 per cent) and Los Angeles viewed in “Entourage” (10 per cent). 

Walk your way to wellness 

The trend for wellness getaways isn’t slowing down for 2018, with almost double the amount of people planning to take health and well-being trips in 2018 compared to 2017 (from one in 10 in 2017 to nearly one in five in 2018). 

Health and wellness inspired activities high on the travel agenda in 2018 include visiting a spa or receiving beauty treatments (33 per cent), cycling (24 per cent), water sport activities (22 per cent), taking a full body detox holiday (17 per cent), going on a yoga retreat (16 per cent), running (16 per cent) and undertaking meditation/mindfulness (15 per cent). Embracing such experiences is popular with travellers, with 59 per cent saying they prioritize experiences over material items when on holiday. 

Economic intuition

Every year, travellers are becoming savvier, especially when it comes to getting the most for their money. With significant numbers basing their travelling decisions on finance-related matters, 2018 will see travellers looking to be even more economically intuitive. Nearly half (47 per cent) will take currency exchange rates into consideration when planning their travels for the year, and almost the same amount (48 per cent) will think about the economic climate of a destination before making the decision to travel. 

More confident to follow their own intuition, travellers are less obliged to follow the herd, with over half (57 per cent) wanting to do more independent travel in 2018, placing growing value on personalised endeavours, looking for the best deals and putting together their own packages – all with the help of apps and technology. 

The great mate escape

The year 2018 is gearing up to be all about the group getaway. When asked who their 2018 travelling companions were likely to be, the segment with the biggest increase when compared to 2017, was travelling with a group of friends, increasing from 21 per cent to 25 per cent. 

Mate’s escapes are the ultimate social time away from our everyday pressures, reducing stress and building connections with your friends. With the world only a click away it’s never been easier to find the perfect place to stay and explore with a large group of friends looking for adventure across every corner of the globe. 

Friend-based getaways also have financial advantages as four in 10 (42 per cent) said that joint holidays with friends will allow them to stay in accommodation they wouldn't be able to afford on their own. 

Live like a local, not with one
In 2018, rental homes are going to be particularly popular – not just for travellers looking to stay in one, but also home owners who are thinking of inviting others to stay in their own abode. One in three travellers (33 per cent) say they’d prefer to stay in a holiday rental (a holiday home or apartment) over a hotel and one in five (21 per cent) would consider listing their home on a travel accommodation site.

When it comes to playing the role of a host, travellers reveal that it isn’t about having them there all the time. Travellers are keen to have a local experience and will look to hosts for their expertise, as a quarter of travellers say it will be important that their host has strong local knowledge about local food and places to visit (25 per cent), but travellers will want the flexibility to interact with hosts on their own terms.

Source - TheNation
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'Just Kids'

We have created several Maps on Facebook.

We research how and where the 'Traffic' come from. 
We have already a:

Kid Map

Windmill Map

Bird Map
  

We shuffle regular the pictures on the ranking from high to low.
We hope you take a look and in click "LIKE" on one of more of your favorites.
It give us a push to create more maps.
Be continued......