Surveys
Asian Travellers Find It Harder To Switch Off Mobile Devices Than Europeans
Thailand travellers are the least willing switch off mobile devices even when supposedly getting away from it all from holiday, with people from other Asian nations such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China also breaking into a cold sweat in fear of not having their gadgets nearby.
Thailand travellers are the least willing switch off mobile devices even when supposedly getting away from it all from holiday, with people from other Asian nations such as South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China also breaking into a cold sweat in fear of not having their gadgets nearby, a survey shows.
And a global survey by Hotels.com says that by contrast, Italian travellers are the most comfortable in going “off the grid” when it comes to not carrying a mobile device.
As wealth managers and other businesses have embraced mobile devices to connect with clients, the evidence might suggest that Asian clients are the most likely to remain in touch via this route even while sightseeing or hitting the beach or golf course. Europeans, on the other hand, seem to be more likely to switch off on holiday.
The study examined digital holiday habits across 28 different countries. Some 85 per cent of Thailand travellers said they were inseparable from their devices; Korea was close behind at 78 per cent, followed by Japan, at 69 per cent, and China, at 67 per cent. In Singapore, the figure is 60 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum, 39 per cent of Italians said they were unable to switch off from their mobile gadgets; travellers from France and Russia, at 40 per cent, are almost as comfortable in turning the devices off. For Hong Kong, the figure was 46 per cent.
The findings, however, also revealed that over one in five (23 per cent) Singapore travellers, for example, regretted spending too much time on their mobile devices once they have returned to home soil. Some 77 per cent admitted to checking work e-mails while away, despite eight in 10 (79 per cent) conceding that they try to use their holiday to forget about work.
As far as Singaporeans are concerned, the most important travel item for them is a passport (unsurprisingly), followed in second spot by a smartphone, then travel insurance, sunscreen, travel guide, swimwear, sunglasses, deodorant, razor, and gym kit.