Pattaya sees a surge in demand from international travellers

According to data from the online travel website Expedia, international travellers are showing great interest in visiting Pattaya, Hua Hin and Chiang Rai with very strong growth in hotel bookings in all three destinations, but especially in Pattaya and Chiang Rai.

Expedia said its figures were based on the solid growth in hotel bookings in the first half of this year, with the online site saying its hotel partners in Chiang Rai benefitting the most from international travellers with a massive 70 percent year-on-year growth.

Pattaya was next with its growth figures also quite astounding, coming in at 60 percent year-on-year while Hua Hin showed a 40 percent year-on-year expansion.

Expedia noted that the United Kingdom and the United States were the top two inbound markets and between them made up almost 20 percent of the total for Chiang Rai and Pattaya.

The online agency said international tourists for all three of these destinations book more than one month in advance, almost twice as early compared to domestic travellers, which is probably no real surprise given the logistics of getting to and from both the UK and US and many other major international centres.

Naturally enough, because these visitors are coming from so far away in most cases they are also staying one and a half times longer than domestic visitors, according to Expedia.

Expedia said its packages, which combine booking services for air tickets, hotels and cars, performed even better in the first half of this year.

International demand for Expedia’s packages rose across all three destinations, with Pattaya leading the way at a whopping 170 percent growth in year-on-year, followed by Hua Hin with 90 percent and Chiang Rai with 50 percent.

Demand from mobile customers doubled on average for Chiang Rai and Pattaya, while hoteliers in Hua Hin have seen an increase of almost two-thirds in bookings through mobile devices.

Expedia also made some other interesting points regarding the demographics of travel to these three destinations. Chiang Rai is experiencing impressive growth from inbound travel with triple-digit growth from Germany (140 percent), Hong Kong and France ( both 120 percent), Canada and South Korea (both 110 percent).

Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea alone contribute to one-quarter of the total inbound demand to Pattaya.

In Hua Hin it is the Swiss who have been coming in large numbers, Expedia noting that their numbers are up by 160 percent.

Travellers from Sweden and Denmark together made up almost 20 percent of the total demand Expedia delivers to Hua Hin hoteliers.