BANGKOK, 23 April 2025: Visa, a leader in digital payments, has shared cross-border data on consumer spending travel trends for both inbound and outbound travel during the first two months of this year.
Inbound travel to Thailand remains robust, driven by increased spending from travellers who are residents of the US, UK, France, and Australia. Visa observes the largest spending contribution in the top corridors, which include the US, UK, mainland China, France, and Japan.
Inbound travel
Tourists travelling to Thailand spend most on accommodation, restaurants, retail goods, health care, and food and groceries. The top provinces that recorded the highest spending in Thailand include Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi (where Pattaya is located), Samut Prakan (driven by spending at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport), and Surat Thani (where Koh Samui and Koh Phanghan are located).
Across the provinces, spending at quick-service restaurants increased consistently year over year. Chonburi and Chiang Mai saw the strongest growth in this category. During the week of the Lunar New Year, these two provinces also showed the most significant year-over-year growth in spending.
Visa Thailand, Country Manager Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa stated: “Thailand remains one of the world’s top travel destinations, and we are pleased to see continued growth in tourist visits. In the first two months of this year, we observed a 26% year-on-year increase in spending from tourists in our leading inbound markets – United Kingdom and France, highlighting Thailand’s ongoing appeal as a travel destination. However, we see softness in spending among Chinese and South Korean travellers.
When we look at outbound travel, Japan continues to be the preferred destination for Thai consumers. We are also witnessing strong triple-digit year-on-year growth in travel spending in Mainland China as its appeal as a travel destination rises. Our data insights enable us to collaborate with our partners to offer relevant benefits to our cardholders, ensuring a seamless and secure experience when they travel and pay with Visa.”
Outbound travel
Visa’s findings showed that Thai consumers travel to Japan, Hong Kong, the UK, South Korea, and France during the first two months of the year.
The top categories Thai consumers spend most when travelling this year included department stores, apparel & accessories, retail goods, restaurants and accommodation. In Japan, Thai cardholders spent almost 30% of their travel dollars at department stores, one of the highest compared to other top destination corridors. Travel spend at discount stores, restaurants and food & groceries also saw 20% and 18% year-on-year growth respectively.
Over 30% of Thai cardholders’ travel spend in France and Hong Kong was on apparel & accessories, while more than half of their travel spend in China was at department stores and on retail goods. China also saw the strongest year-on-year triple-digit growth in spend across all key categories compared to other travel corridors, especially at department stores, apparel and accessories, discount stores and entertainment. This showcases China’s increased appeal as a travel destination for Thai consumers.
Affluent Segments Driving Growth in Domestic spend
The emerging affluent and affluent segments in Thailand are driving the growth in face-to-face spending domestically. These customer segments spend most on healthcare, retail goods, restaurants, home improvement & supplies, fuel, food and groceries.
In addition, there are some growth categories where cardholders are spending more, including professional services, which doubled in spending, and education and government services, which grew by close to 30% year-on-year.
