Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018

Eyeing for quality Indian tourists; Creating a Thai niche
2017-12-21
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/ Kolkata
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Thailand is revising its tourism strategies to defeat rising competition

Thailand is revising its tourism strategies to stay ahead of the rising competition

In a bid to race past the competitors, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched a campaign using the catchphrase ‘Amazing Thailand’, that has been a popular marketing slogan for nearly 20 years. TAT has announced 2018 as the Amazing Thailand Tourism Year thereby opening up newer avenues of looking at Thailand as a preferred destination.

The ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018′ is launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan highlighting a busy calendar of international events.

Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister, General Tanasak Patimapragorn has said, “The Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018 shows how important tourism promotion is to the Royal Thai Government’s national agenda.

The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul commented, “Tourism as a key economic driver,  this will once again put Thailand in the spotlight as a preferred destination for the international travellers.”

The emphasis is on inclusive tourism, based on the government’s 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan and 2nd National Tourism Development Plan that maintains a balance between the economy, environment and benefits for Thai society.

Talking exclusively to India Outbound, Isra Stapanaseth, Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand stated, “Tourism Authority of Thailand will start promoting the Amazing Thailand Tourism Year from January 2018 up until January 2019. This initiative was taken keeping in mind to maintain the tourism sustainability of the country in the wake of competition from Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Mauritius and Malaysia.”

Talking about the theme of the campaign, Isra maintained that the aim is to promote Thailand as a holistic tourism destination by means of incorporating elements that have not been promoted before. “For this”, he added, “we have decided to promote Thailand as a culinary destination by laying emphasis on Thai cuisine which celebrates lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components and a spicy edge. For Indians, we also have vegetarian dishes and festivals that hero the vegetarian cuisine.  For example, we have the Phuket Vegetarian Festival, Bangkok Vegetarian Festival among several others.”

In addition to promoting Thailand as a culinary destination, Isra stated that the campaign also includes promoting the culturally rich nation as an exotic cultural destination and an experiential destination. He said, “We want to promote Thai culture among the tourists and also want to showcase our ways of life. These will include attracting tourists through our many festivals, celebrations, spiritual destinations in addition to promoting living life like a local.”

Talking about sustaining and increasing the tourism numbers, Isra stated that TAT plans to work closely with the wedding, luxury and leisure tourism sectors while participating in travel marts and meets to increase visibility. TAT will also organise its own B2B meet focussing on these sectors bringing in key partners from Thailand to interact with the top Indian counterparts. According to him, “Thailand has the potential to be the next best leisure destination as we are working on improving the security for our tourists while eliminating the loopholes and improving the visa services. We are also trying to come up with newer activities to engage tourists on a leisurely vacation.”

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