(08 September 2022, 11:50 +07)
Airbnb has revealed that more than 70 percent of Thais
who participated in a poll plan
to travel more frequently to rural destinations that are not
currently popular with tourists, with over two thirds saying it
is important that they are not contributing to issues such as overtourism.
The company claims that some of the "lesser-known"
destinations that travelers are exploring in the Kingdom include Koh Lanta, Trat,
Pai and Cha-Am, though many would argue those areas are already
very well known tourist destinations, they just receive less
visitors than the major hubs of places like Samui, Phuket, Bangkok
and Chiang Mai - all of which have their own international
airport.
With people continuing to embrace flexible new
approaches to travel and living, communities that have
traditionally missed out in the past are potentially
well-positioned to secure a bigger slice of the tourism pie,
according to new Airbnb report ‘Further Afield: Spreading the
Benefits of the Travel Revolution’.
Sunrise in rural Sisaket (ศรีสะเกษ), Thailand. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com
Across Asia Pacific, Airbnb nights booked in
non-urban areas and typical earnings for non-urban hosts have
increased. Travelers are not only eyeing destinations off the
beaten path, they’re also looking to stay longer.
Notably, nights
booked for long-term stays (stays longer than 28 days) in
non-urban areas approximately doubled in popular travel and remote
working hotspot Thailand in Q2 2022, up from Q2 2019 pre-pandemic.
In Southeast Asia, a number of destinations
outside major metropolitan hubs were popular among travelers on
Airbnb for long-term stays in Q2 2022. Examples included:
- Koh Pha Ngan, Koh Lanta and Krabi in Thailand;
- Ipoh, Kuah, Semenyih and Port Dickson in
Malaysia; and
- Dapa, Panglao, Dumaguete and Silang in
Philippines.
“More than two years since the start of the
pandemic, we continue to see fundamental shifts in travel that are
creating new opportunities for lesser known, off-the-beaten-track
communities. It’s incredibly exciting to see travelers so
enthusiastic about exploring new destinations, as well as the
positive economic impact cascading to locals,” said Mich Goh, Airbnb’s
Head of Public Policy for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and
Taiwan. “This ongoing dispersal of travel is empowering
locals to diversify their income through hosting and build
financial resilience in the face of rising costs of living. We are
committed to continuing to work together with governments and
stakeholders to keep inspiring travelers to step off the beaten
path and help ensure more communities can share in the benefits of
tourism.”
In addition to encouraging travelers to explore
further afield through innovative search tools such as Categories
and I’m Flexible, Airbnb has partnered with
Thailand’s Tourism Authority of Thailand and Indonesia’s Ministry
of Tourism and Creative Economy on a range of ‘Live and Work
Anywhere’ initiatives to attract global digital nomads and remote
workers, as part of broader efforts to drive inbound tourism as
travel returns.
The 8-page, 48.3 MB report can be downloaded in .pdf
format
here.
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