Which nation do you think has the least vacations in the Asia-Pacific?
Malaysia is the most vacation-deprived nation in Asia-Pacific and ranked second globally, a survey by travel site Expedia recently revealed.
The results of the 2015 Vacation Deprivation study indicated that 72.7% of Malaysians saying they feel very or somewhat vacation deprived. Respondents attributed their vacation deprivation to not getting enough vacation days (60.9%).
That doesn’t mean that Malaysians don’t recognise and derive happiness from going on vacations though, said AirAsiaExpedia chief executive officer Jonty Neal. As a matter of fact, 70.5% respondents know the joys of vacations.
Malaysians find that regular vacations are important “in maintaining balance for general health (89.5%), staying connected with friends and family (89.3%) as well as keeping the spark going with one’s significant other (92.7%)”.
“Despite the internal motivations associated with vacationing, Malaysians seem unable to take their holidays, perhaps due to work commitments (38.2%), an objective to carry forward leave days for a longer time out (26.0%) as well as scheduling difficulties with family and friends (29.9%),” he said.
But 32.9% of Malaysians say they can’t afford to take vacations or had to cancel it because of work commitments (56.6%).
On another note, Malaysians would rather take a pay raise than have more leave days. But if they do have more vacation days they want it for travelling to new places (63.5%); taking longer holidays (53.5%) and taking more vacations (52.6%).
“Over 50% of respondents shared that their bosses are supportive of them taking vacations. However, it might come as no surprise that the decision by Malaysians to have more cash in hand supersedes the need for holidays, with nearly seven out of 10 respondents sharing they would rather take a pay raise than have more vacation days,” Neal explained.
Source: https://www.star2.com/travel/malaysia/2016/03/07/malaysians-dont-have-enough-vacations/