BANGKOK and other destinations in Thailand will enjoy continued popularity among Singaporean travellers in the year ahead, according to the latest data from Hotels.com.
Besides the shopping haven that is the nation’s capital, which gained the most searches for the month of December, other locales are increasingly coming under the spotlight.
Searches for Krabi spiked 67 per cent year-on-year to claim the top spot among Hotels.com’s top five destinations with the most search increases for December. Chiang Mai followed in second spot with 45 per cent.
Bangkok was also the most popular holiday haunt for Singaporeans between January and October, despite the political unrest this year.
Katherine Cole, regional director at Hotels.com, said: “Thailand has always been a destination close to the hearts of Singapore travellers and we expect to see even greater demand in the coming year, as local authorities increase their efforts to attract tourists back to the country post-coup.”
Sapporo, Taichung and Penang were also among the top five destinations with highest searches in December, recording increases of 36, 33 and 30 per cent respectively.
Hotels.com’s data also showed Singaporeans opting for vacations within the region instead of Europe. Eight of the top 10 most-searched destinations for January to October were found in Asia.
Interestingly as well, local hotels were the sixth most searched item for the second consecutive year.
Commenting on this statistic, Cole said: “2014 has seen the growing popularity of staycations and Singapore is at the fore of this trend. The republic is high on the radar as locals increasingly look to a nearby hotel for a quick weekend respite with family and friends. With numerous festive hotel promotions, year-end events and countdown parties in the pipeline, Singapore is the destination to be for Christmas and the New Year.”
