ALMOST seven out of ten Malaysians are looking forward to traveling within the country, according to a Visa Voice of the Consumer survey.

Visa, the world leader in digital payments revealed that nearly half (40 per cent) of them are planning to travel abroad for leisure purposes by the middle of next year.

The survey also found that the three main considerations for Malaysian tourists who want to give up travel include getting vaccinated (66 per cent), the stability of the Covid-19 situation in tourist destinations (66 per cent) and the reduction of global Covid-19 infection cases (56 per cent).

Country Manager for Visa Malaysia, Ng Kong Boon said, although the state and national borders began to open for tourism, personal security remained a priority for consumers.

“Business companies, whether hotels, restaurants, transport or recreation companies must remain resilient to address restrictions and prevent future waves of infection.

“Among the regular activities that all travelers have to do no matter where their destination is is to make a payment.

“This means digital payments will play an important role in stimulating business recovery and limiting physical contact and the spread of infection,” he said in a statement, yesterday.

The survey was conducted by Green Shoots Radar for Visa last June in 14 countries namely China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Australia, and New Zealand.

The total sample size was 2,200 including consumers in Thailand aged 18 years and above, covering all education groups with a set minimum monthly household income (varies by country).

According to him, tourists throughout Asia Pacific also use different approaches to travel compared to the days before the pandemic.

“Two out of five respondents (42 per cent) plan to avoid crowded tourist spots while 44 per cent plan to carry more cards or use mobile phones to pay, avoid visiting money changers and touching cash.

“More than half (53 per cent) will spend more time booking safe accommodation with guaranteed quality,” he said.

He said, in terms of overseas travel destinations of choice, most Malaysian tourists wanted to visit China, Australia, and Japan, followed by neighboring countries – Thailand and Singapore.

When asked about their willingness to travel, only three out of ten Malaysians said they were not pleased with the travel bubble approach.

More than half (54 per cent) expressed an interest in traveling inside the travel bubble, but not in the near term while 16 per cent wanted to travel as soon as possible when the travel bubble was implemented.

“During a pandemic, contactless payment methods recorded significant growth due to their advantages in terms of speed, agility and security,” he said.

“We believe the practice of cashless payments will continue to be prevalent in the post -pandemic era as contactless methods are expected to remain the first choice for face -to -face transactions. Business companies must continue to meet consumer demand as the tourism industry recovers,” he said.