Visa's Cross-Border Travel Spend Trends Highlight Thailand as a Key Travel Destination for Global Travellers

Inbound travel to Thailand remains robust, driven by increased spending from travellers coming from the United States of America, United Kingdom, France and Australia. The top corridors, where Visa observes the largest spend contribution include United States of America, United Kingdom, Mainland China, France and Japan.

Tourists travelling to Thailand are spending most on accommodation, restaurants, retail goods, health care and food & groceries. The top provinces that recorded the highest spend in Thailand includes Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi (where Pattaya is located), Samutprakan (driven by spend at the Suvannabhumi airport), and Suratthani (where Koh Samui and Koh Phanghan are located).

Across the provinces, there was consistent year-on-year growth in spending at quick service restaurants. Chonburi and Chiangmai saw the strongest growth in spending for this category. During the week of Lunar New Year, these two provinces also showed the largest year-on-year growth in spending.

Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, Country Manager for Visa Thailand, stated: "Thailand remains one of the world's top travel destinations, and we are pleased to see continued growth in tourist visits. In the first two months of this year, we observed a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in spending from tourists in our leading inbound markets - United Kingdom and France, highlighting Thailand's ongoing appeal as a travel destination. However, we see softness in spending among Chinese and South Korean travellers.

When we look at outbound travel, Japan continues to be the preferred destination for Thai consumers. We are also witnessing strong triple-digit year-on-year growth in travel spending in Mainland China as its appeal as a travel destination rises. Our data insights enable us to collaborate with our partners to offer relevant benefits to our cardholders, ensuring a seamless and secure experience when they travel and pay with Visa."

Outbound travel - Thai consumers flock to Japan, Hong Kong and United Kingdom

Visa's findings showed that Thai consumers are travelling to Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, South Korea and France during the first two months of the year.

The top categories that Thai consumers spend most when they travelled this year include department stores, apparel & accessories, retail goods, restaurants and accommodation. In Japan, Thai cardholders spent almost 30 per cent of their travel dollars at department stores, one of the highest compared to other top destination corridors. Travel spend at discount stores, restaurants and food & groceries also saw 20 per cent and 18 per cent year-on-year growth respectively.

Over 30 per cent of Thai cardholders' travel spend in France and Hong Kong was on apparel & accessories, while more than half of their travel spend in China was at department stores and on retail goods. China also saw the strongest year-on-year triple-digit growth in spend across all key categories compared to other travel corridors, especially at department stores, apparel and accessories, discount stores and entertainment. This showcases China's increased appeal as a travel destination for Thai consumers.

Emerging Affluent and Affluent Segments Driving Growth in Domestic spend

The emerging affluent and affluent segments in Thailand are driving the growth in face-to-face spend domestically. These customer segments are spending most on healthcare, retail goods, restaurants, home improvement & supplies, fuel and food and groceries.

In addition, there are some growth categories where cardholders are spending more, including professional services, which doubled in spend and education and government services, which grew by close to 30 per cent year-on-year.