Thai Travellers Least Prepared to Give Up Mobile Devices on Holiday

Thai travellers have been named as those least prepared to give up their mobile devices when going on holiday, according to a new global survey from Hotels.com.

For a huge 85% of Thais, the thought of going on holiday without their beloved gadgets would bring them out in a cold sweat.

Closely behind Thailand was Korea in second place with 78% of the nation finding it difficult to be without their device, and Japan in third place with 69%.

The study, which looks into digital holiday habits across 28 different countries worldwide, explores which nations find it most difficult to achieve that ever-important work/life balance and switch off when holidaying.

Comparatively, Hong Kong came in at 11th place, with 46% of respondents being reluctant to fob off their phone while on holiday.

When it comes to travellers from Hong Kong, the study revealed that around one in three regrets spending too much time on their mobile device once they've returned to home soil, 75% admit to checking work e-mails while away, and while 68% concede that they try to use their holiday to forget about work, having access to social media, wherever they are, is very important to 55% of those from Hong Kong. Whereas for Thais, having access to social media, wherever they are, is very important to all (100%) of Thai respondents.

The Hotels.com study also revealed Hong Kong's top ten most important travel items. While the mobile phone still came in high in second place, it was trumped by the ever-important passport/travel documents, while travel insurance came in third place and deodorant came in last at 10.

The top ten most important travel items for Hong Kong travellers:

1 - Passport / Travel documents
2 - Smartphone
3 - Travel insurance
4 - Travel guide
5 - Sunscreen
6 - Sunglasses
7 - Swimwear
8 - Razor
9 - Gym Kit
10 - Deodorant

The top ten most important travel items for Thai travellers:

1 - Smartphone
2 - Passport
3 - Travel insurance
4 - Sunglasses
=5 - Travel guide
=5 - Sunscreen
7 - Swimwear
8 - Deodorant
9 - Gym Kit
10 - Razor

When it comes to which countries are most likely to exaggerate their holiday experience, China came top of the pile with 67% of respondents likely to lie to friends and family when returning home. Close behind in second place came Germany with 64%, and Korea in third place with just under half (48%) admitting they would embellish a story to impress others. Hong Kong came in second to last place, with just less than 9% of Hong Kong travellers admitting to fibbing about their adventures.