Thais are tightening their belts and turning to domestic travel, focusing on using reward points to book accommodations. Pattaya and Hua Hin are the top popular destinations.

SCBX's points aggregation application, in partnership with Expedia Group, has released figures following the launch of their joint travel platform. The findings show that 62% of travelers prefer to pay for their trips in full using points, seeking to escape global economic uncertainty. This pushes travel as the second most popular category for points redemption, aligning with research indicating that Thai businesses view points as the future of payment.

July 9, 2569 Kritthi Manolihakul, Chief Executive Officer, PointX Co., Ltd. Trends in consumer behavior following the launch of XTravel Powered by Expedia, a travel platform on the POINTX app, at the end of April, reveal that users are increasingly viewing "points" as part of their budget and expenses for daily travel planning. This is aimed at managing travel expenses more efficiently in the current economic climate.

Data collected on the platform provides empirical evidence that consumers value flexible payment options. 62% of users chose to use accumulated points to pay in full, while another 38% used points in conjunction with credit or debit cards within the SCBX group, including SCB WEALTH by CardX, CardX credit cards, SCB debit cards, and SCB PLANET prepaid cards. This behavior helps overcome point limitations and has driven continued usage growth in the first half of June compared to the same period in May.

Furthermore, an interesting insight into consumer digital asset management indicates that the XTravel category immediately became the second most valuable points-per-transaction category on the POINTX platform upon its launch, second only to airline miles but surpassing mutual funds, cashback, and XStore merchandise redemption. This clearly reflects that today's consumers view travel as a category that offers more value when using points than redeeming general goods.

“Over 38% of users chose to use points in conjunction with credit or debit card payments, while 62% chose to pay in full with points. This reflects the platform's flexibility in catering to diverse spending styles and helps overcome limitations on the number of points available. Meanwhile, usage in the first half of June continued to grow compared to the same period in May.” Mr. Kritthi said:

A deeper dive into travel search behavior reveals a correlation with the current economic climate. 69% of platform users are interested in searching for accommodation, while only 11% search for flights. Domestic accommodation was significantly more popular than international destinations in May, a result of economic uncertainty and global factors influencing international travel decisions, coupled with promotions promoting domestic tourism to stimulate short-term travel demand.

The top three most popular residential locations in Thailand are Pattaya (35%), followed by Hua Hin (26%), and Khao Yai (8%). These destinations cater to consumers' flexible short-term trip planning habits and focus on budget management.

on the side Eileen Chan, VP B2B Sales, APAC, Expedia Group Consistent macroeconomic statistics from the "Mapping the Future of APAC Travel" report reveal that current traveler behavior expects experiences where they can search, book, and use reward points along with various payment methods in one place, to accommodate changing travel budgeting systems.

“70% of businesses in the Asia Pacific region view points or frequent flyer miles as a key payment method in the future. This aligns with research findings showing that 69% of tourism businesses in Thailand expect travel demand to grow over the next 2-3 years,” Eileen said.

Through this business collaboration, both brands integrate Expedia Group's advanced technology infrastructure and AI systems with POINTX's point management ecosystem in Thailand to create real-time payment channels. This represents a new retail travel business model that meets the needs of Thai consumers seeking maximum value for their travels during periods of fluctuating living costs.

Read news related to the economic situation across Thailand here.