A large number of Thai tourists are preparing to take overseas trips during the New Year holiday, with the load factor for flights to Japan surging higher than normal.
Thai AirAsia and Thai AirAsia X reported 60% advanced bookings for international routes between Dec 20, 2024 and Jan 5, 2025.
Flights bound for Japan, particularly to Tokyo and Osaka, recorded load factors of more than 80% for this period, higher than forward bookings for domestic flights, which tallied 60-70%.
Chotechuang Soorangura, vice-president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said the number of outbound tourists is expected to peak during the New Year holiday, following a surge during the school break in October.
He said affluent Thais still have potential to travel abroad, even though travel costs during the New Year typically rise 20% from non-holiday periods.
There is a significant increase in small, tailor-made groups, where families with young children or elderly members require tour operators to organise a personal tour group for 6-7 persons, said Mr Chotechuang.
These clients are willing to pay up to 40% higher than typical tour packages in exchange for convenience and time savings, he said. These itineraries avoid forced visits to shops or buying optional programmes, unlike mass tour group outings.
Japan remains the most popular destination for the New Year holiday, mainly driven by independent tourists who appreciate unique cultures and natural attractions, said Mr Chotechuang. Thais also benefit from lower travel costs with the weak yen, as airfares are 10-15% cheaper than last year.
China is the No.2 destination, attributed to its visa-free policy and suitable products to entice senior travellers via mass tour groups, such as affordable prices of less than 20,000 baht for a four-night trip, he said.
"The popularity of Japan will increase if the US announces another rate cut, which would weaken the yen, making tourist spending more affordable in Japan," said Mr Chotechuang.
For tour agents and airlines, he said there is still room to sell packages and seats during the last two months by joining the biggest Japan travel fair in Thailand, Visit Japan FIT Fair, hosted by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) during Nov 8-10.
The number of Thai tourists visiting Japan this year should reach 1 million, according to JNTO's Bangkok office.
As of September, Thai visitors to Japan grew 19.2% this year with 752,000 tourists, following the South Korean, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong markets.
JNTO's long-term target is to revive the number to match its peak in 2019, which was 1.3 million Thai visitors.
In 2023, the average expenditure of Thais in Japan surged 47% to 42,700 baht from 29,000 baht before the pandemic.
The Visit Japan FIT Fair, held at Siam Paragon, aims to draw 52,000 attendees to visit 156 booths, including 86 booths from provincial tourism authorities and businesses in Japan that seek to promote new destinations to the Thai market. Some 48 travel agents in Thailand and all eight airlines that operate flights to Japan have booths.
According to JNTO, more than 80% of the Thai outbound market to Japan are independent travellers, most of whom are repeat visitors.
They prefer to seek new destinations, which has increased the popularity of sites such as Kamikochi, a mountainous area in Nagano, which has recorded a rise in independent tourists, based on JNTO data.
