KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — A survey conducted by Europ Assistance (EA) with a market research company, Ipsos indicates that 80 per cent of Malaysian respondents have reported feeling excited to travel this year with more than 72 per cent of them planning to travel this year.
EA South East Asia chief executive officer, Philippe Demangeat in a statement today said 69 per cent of Malaysian respondents are planning to travel abroad in 2023, while 41 per cent intending to travel domestically as Malaysians favour ASEAN markets like Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines after the pandemic.
“Malaysians are also planning to spend an average of RM6,500 all-inclusive per trip, with an average of 10 days for the duration of the trip. Both budget and duration are comparatively lower as opposed to other regions, with inflation and cost as the main factors,” he added.
He said inflation is the main reason that negatively impacts Malaysian enthusiasm to travel, while COVID-19 comes in second. However, the inflation factor has also impacted travel preferences in developed countries such as Australia, Canada, Europe, and the United States.
The collaborative survey research is the output of the EA’s 22nd edition of the Holiday Barometer on travel preferences across 15 countries, including Malaysia.
The survey research was conducted among 15,000 individuals, with 1,000 respondents from each country, including Malaysia, Australia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America.