Domestic and International Destinations Substitution Among Thai Tourists

Abstract

This research article aims to assess the level of substitutability (or complementarity) of tourist destinations among Thai tourists. The demand elasticity for Thai tourists estimated subject to almost ideal demand system (AIDS) and calculate the variety types of elasticities, during the period from 2008 to 2019 among domestic and 11 international destinations. The behavior of Thai tourists in choosing travel destinations reveals that the demand for tourism in Thailand exhibits low price elasticity of demand and low income elasticity of demand. The decision to travel domestically for Thai tourists is not high influenced by price and income. For choosing international travel destinations, most have low price elasticity of demand, and there is a tendency for Thai tourists to travel abroad more as their income increases. The study also found that domestic and international tourism destinations have a low degree of substitution for each other. It can be stated that setting strategic tourism goals aimed at promoting the expansion of tourism by relying on domestic tourists is feasible as domestic tourism has low elasticity and a low degree of substitution with international tourism. Therefore, to achieve the goal of increasing reliance on domestic tourism, the government and relevant agencies should implement measures to encourage Thai citizens to travel within the country more frequently using both financial and non-financial incentives.

Keywords

• Thai Tourism
• Destination Substitution
• Almost Idea Demand System (AIDS)
• Tourism Demand
• Elasticity of Demand

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