Don’t put all your money on Thais keeping your hotel busy…

The majority of Thais have no plan to travel during the long weekends, a recent poll showed.

A Bangkok Poll survey by Bangkok University on “Thais’ travel plan during long weekends” found that more than half — 54 per cent of respondents — have no plan of travelling in December, while Chiang Mai is the most popular destination among travellers.

The poll, which surveyed 1,137 respondents nationwide and was released on Thursday, found that among the reasons for not travelling during long weekends were: Having to work/study (20 per cent), having financial restrictions (11.7 per cent), and having health problems (8.8 per cent). Some 25.2 per cent of respondents, however, said that they planned to travel during the long weekends in December, while 20.8 per cent said they were still uncertain.

Chiang Mai is the most popular destination among respondents (25 per cent), followed by Chiang Rai (9 per cent), Nan (6.6 per cent), Phetchabun (6.4 per cent) and Loei (5.1 per cent).

When asked about the government’s measure to stimulate tourism, 67.9 per cent of respondents said they were aware of the “Rao Pai Tiew Gun” (Let’s travel together) campaign, while 32.1 per cent said they were not aware; 61.4 per cent of the respondents said they had not registered under the campaign, the main reasons being: Do not know how to use the app (18.5 per cent), the registration process is too complicated (15.5 per cent), the room reservation process is too complicated (3.5 per cent).

When asked about their opinion on the effectiveness of the government’s tourism stimulus campaigns, 55.2 per cent of respondents said that these measures were effective and would result in more people travelling, while 44.8 per cent said that they would have only a minor impact on the tourism industry.