Swedes have less appetite for Thailand

by Gregers Møller 

 

FILE PHOTO: Reuters

 

Swedes planning for an autumn vacation have less appetite for going to Thailand compared to last year.

 

This year, only 9.201 Swedes would go to Thailand – if they could, shows a survey by flygresor.se. That is a dramatic drop from last year where 49.183 Swedes wanted to take the autumn leave in Thailand.

 

The interest in flying is lower than the same period last year. The searches in the top 20 list have decreased by an average of 87% compared to the previous year.

 

Full story: https://scandasia.com/swedes-have-less-appetite-for-thailand/

 

-- © Copyright ScandAsia 2020-09-04

 

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Been there done that. 

I guess they haven't seen the new IKEA 2021 cafeteria menu....they'll be back...

IMHO there is everywhere less interest at the moment to go on long distance travel . By far the most people at this present time want to stay much closer to home , if they want to travel . We are talking autumn , which is warned that it might be a difficult time due to flu + covid and even common colds coming along . Before you know it , you'll be locked in Thailand . This just isn't the time for most people to go long haul .

This shouldn't be a surprise to anybody , and did not need somebodies money to research it .

Well I don't think it just the Swedes,I think it's across the Western World right now

. 

 

Long haul vacations just aren't on folk's 'to do' list.

 

Also this is part of a fb convo with a Swedish friend of mine, who is a serious bar fly, but this year no go 

 

"Also if I go outside EU my travelinsurance is not valid... so I just as well stay at home"

 

Now I have no idea if that applies to other Europeans, but food for thought!

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The interest in flying is lower than the same period last year. The searches in the top 20 list have decreased by an average of 87% compared to the previous year.

derp derp

1 hour ago, webfact said:

This year, only 9.201 Swedes

I think there is a mistake. According to my sources it's 9,203 Swedes. Plus 7.5 Norwegians.

 

(Note: When quoting surveys that only took in a limited total sample size, it's always a good idea to mention that. Oh, and also tell us how many actually took part in the survey.) 

The top 20 countries are expected to have 85,000 tourists compared to 650,000 in the previous year. That just shows how covid19 has effected the travel industry. Thailand is still predicting that it will get about 50% of last year's tourists in 2022. Dream on.

Yeah, I guess 14 days of quarantine and an ongoing virus pandemic, can make the interest to travel around the world a little bit lower.

I wonder how many ticked yes in the box 'Are you worried about getting stuck abroad again ?'

The affects on travel habits will be long term. Previously people might have been frequent travellers to the Kingdom, or travelled based on friends' recommendations etc/ Now they have been forced to discover other destinations, which could result in a fundamental shift away from the traditional 'exotic tropical' countries.

Thailand will really have to work if they stand any chance of getting any significant amount of these tourists back.

My own opinion is that I have zero desire to fly anywhere for a vacation. I am on a "retirement visa" but have never done a 90 day report (until this July) because for the past 11 years I have flown regularly to Europe and so never spent 90 days in Thailand at one time. 

 

This time I came in November and have not left yet, nor do I have any plans to do so....not this year, next or the year after. The hassle factor is just too big....quarantine for 14 days too enter my country of residence......fugeddaboudit!!!!! Standing all day in queues at embassies waiting for incorrect, poorly translated information from the consular office? No thanks. And endless round of super expensive COVID tests which have high failure rates? Again no thanks. I have an option.

 

Pity the poor slobs who don't have an option.

What a ridiculous article.

Most foreigners have decided against International Travel for the next 18 months

The Foreign Office in Sweden has a ban on travel outside EU effective until Nov 15. The autumn break in Sweden usually comes at the end of October/beginning of November. I'm not surprised the numbers are low. 

Im in malaysia, as soon as quatantine is lifted or borders open i will be off to vietnam for a nice holiday.

 

I dont trust thai imm and definately dont want insurance.

1 hour ago, JusticeGB said:

The top 20 countries are expected to have 85,000 tourists compared to 650,000 in the previous year. That just shows how covid19 has effected the travel industry. Thailand is still predicting that it will get about 50% of last year's tourists in 2022. Dream on.

That's a lot of people not financially impacted somehow by COVID19.  Everywhere there are recessions.  People are tightening their belts probably for a few years to make up for lost income and investments. 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Swedes planning for an autumn vacation have less appetite for going to Thailand compared to last year.

Nine thousand two hundred and ONE !!!!

Now I know it's BS

28 minutes ago, natway09 said:

What a ridiculous article.

Most foreigners have decided against International Travel for the next 18 months

That is definitely not the case.

19 minutes ago, aussienam said:

People are tightening their belts probably for a few years to make up for lost income and investments. 

Where is that?  Although down today my tech heavy account is up over 20% this year.  The Dow is near its highs. Real estate near highs record low interest rates.

 

False info. if one has US investments.

and TAT has no clue why ?

8 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Where is that?  Although down today my tech heavy account is up over 20% this year.  The Dow is near its highs. Real estate near highs record low interest rates.

 

False info. if one has US investments.

The US is not high on the wanted tourist list considering how they are handling covid.

 

Australia, which generally has a high tourist rate to thailand has seen the share market fall and property fall. When they finally allow their citizens to leave the country i doubt many could afford it.

Why pick on the Swedes?

21 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Where is that?  Although down today my tech heavy account is up over 20% this year.  The Dow is near its highs. Real estate near highs record low interest rates.

 

False info. if one has US investments.

Ok Warren calm down. 

The ones that want to go are likely dark tourists, iterested in the post-apocalyptic sights of shuttered shops and deserted bars. It's fairly depressing.

16 minutes ago, Sujo said:

The US is not high on the wanted tourist list considering how they are handling covid.

 

Australia, which generally has a high tourist rate to thailand has seen the share market fall and property fall. When they finally allow their citizens to leave the country i doubt many could afford it.

I agree with you.

US probably way down the list for most countries.

Not many will travel internationally until 2022.

 

• Covid tests are not pleasant and unreliable. Get a false negative and spend 21 days in a hotel room?
• Travel insurance costs.
• Possible quarantine coming home.
• Risk of getting stuck somewhere due to an outbreak.
• Risk of catching it on a plane.
• 50% of places are closed when you get there. Not much fun...
• Not trusting foreign hospitals if you catch it while away.
• People worried about spending money on non essentials.

 

People will mainly holiday domestically. TAT is SOL.

2 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I agree with you.

US probably way down the list for most countries.

You say that I guess a lot of people are not going to the USA, Im told that the tourist business within the USA is fairly good

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Swedes have less appetite for Thailand

I'm sure TAT will think of something to turnip it around .. 

14 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

The ones that want to go are likely dark tourists, iterested in the post-apocalyptic sights of shuttered shops and deserted bars. It's fairly depressing.

Lots of Skandi's used to go to Khao Lak I bet that is like a ghost town another place on Phuket for them was Kata and Karon I can confirm they are deserted 

1 hour ago, aussienam said:

That's a lot of people not financially impacted somehow by COVID19.  Everywhere there are recessions.  People are tightening their belts probably for a few years to make up for lost income and investments. 

A recession isn't about how much people have, it's about an economy contracting, which has probably happened because people aren't spending, hence have more money to spend than usual. 

 

Most people I know have saved a lot during the last 6 months. They've not been able to eat out (or even go out much), less weekends away and foreign holidays whilst still working or being on furlough. I expect a huge number of people actually now have extra cash to splash.