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Which international travelers will venture out first?
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A passenger wearing a face mask walks in the nearly empty departure hall of Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on March 12, 2020 as numbers of air travelers in the region plummeted amid fears over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
(AFP/Manan Vatsyayana)
T
ravelers from Taiwan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are the most willing to get on an international flight when it's possible again, according to online travel giant Agoda.
Avid travelers around the globe are dying to know when it will be possible to cross the globe again. Top tourist destinations are empty of foreign visitors; Paris, in particular, is feeling the loss of its regular visitors from Asia. Will the covid-19 pandemic reshape traveling habits?
A glance at the Agoda study provides a glimpse of what the future may hold. Roughly 51 percent of Taiwanese travelers say they are ready to travel internationally again, as are 45 percent of South Koreans and 43 percent of Saudi Arabians.
Read also: WHO to travelers: Keep an eye on 'anywhere and everywhere' COVID-19
Overall, 65 percent of the travelers surveyed stated a preference for traveling domestically in the coming 12 months, meaning that only 35 percent felt ready to travel internationally. Australians, for example, listed planned destinations in Southeast Asia, Eastern Asia and Europe.
Nevertheless, even the participants willing to travel internationally won't be traveling to the ends of the earth just yet. Nearly half (46 percent) said they would not like to travel by air for more than three or four hours at present.
With holidaygoers the world over choosing to take vacations within the borders of their own country, which are the most popular destinations among a country's own citizens?
Indonesians stated a preference for Bali while Thais indicated their preferences for the authenticity of Chiang Mai and the gorgeous beaches of Phuket and Hua Hin. Australians have a vast territory of options: Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast (the east coast around Brisbane) are their preferred spots. Vietnamese participants chose Da Nang, Dalat and Nha Trang for their tourism plans. Finally, Americans noted plans to visit New York, Orlando and Los Angeles.
