Airbnb Survey Reveals 90% of Thais Find ‘Work-Cations’ Appealing

According to a recent YouGov survey commissioned by Airbnb, 87% of Thai people find the concept of an extended work-cation appealing, the most of any country surveyed in Asia Pacific.

This interest in working from anywhere is supported by a growth in long-term stays on Airbnb’s platform, with Thailand ranking second globally with the greatest share of long-stay bookings.

According to the survey findings, since the start of the pandemic one in three workers (34%) in Thailand were allowed to work from home by their employers, while more than half the workforce (51%) have always been allowed to work from home.

With an increased ability to work from home there is also a growing desire for people to combine work and travel and take extended work-cations. While for some a change of scenery is the most appealing aspect of working from somewhere other than home, for Thais it is the prospect of reinvigorating their work life (58%) that appeals most while the ability to combine work and holiday is also high on the priority list for Thai people (47%).

Quieter, more off-the-beaten-path locales, coastal and rural work-cation destinations are most popular with Australian and South Korean survey respondents. For Thais, however, the preference is to take an extended work-cation in other urban destinations (46%). Coastal (41%) and rural (31%) destinations are second and third choices with taking a work-cation overseas the least appealing (29%).

Some of the trending Thai destinations for long-term stays include:

* Phuket
* Nonthaburi (a province in Greater Bangkok)
* Prachuap Khiri Khan
* Chon Buri
* Udon Thani

“As the pandemic is changing how people want to work, travel and live, we believe Airbnb provides diverse travel options suited to changing consumer preferences,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, General Manager (India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Airbnb. “While travel in Thailand continues to trend towards domestic, as the country slowly re-opens and with the introduction of the Special Tourist Visa, the diverse array of long-term stays on our platform provides a wide range of attractive options for domestic and regional tourism.”

Thailand welcomed almost 40 million international visitors in 2019, and whilst its borders are currently closed, travel restrictions are very slowly beginning to ease. Strategies such as the recently launched Special Tourist Visa and a reduction in the mandatory number of days that travellers must quarantine will play an important part in helping to rebuild the number of visitor arrivals.

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