TAT looks to draw more Japanese tourists to Thailand with new campaign

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is looking to draw in more Japanese tourists. TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn announced that TAT will introduce a new partnership campaign in the last three months of the year called “It’s Time to Go To Thailand”.

The campaign aims to increase Japanese tourists’ average spending per trip, which right now is only 6,400 baht, the lowest among Northeast Asian Markets. TAT plans to push seven major tour operators to convince Japanese tourists to spend more days in Thailand.

The main groups TAT aims to target are: corporate trip groups, elderly people, solo travellers, female friend and family groups, and outdoor adventurers. Yuthasak said that extended trips will be rewarded with discounts on products such as hotels and spas.

TAT is aiming to draw in at least 1.25 million Japanese tourists to Thailand in 2023, generating 75 billion baht. As of September 20, 166,709 Japanese tourists have arrived in the kingdom this year. In 2019, the number of Japanese tourists in Thailand had been 1.8 million.

Yuthasak noted that the yen is “historically weak” right now, creating a challenge for TAT’s efforts. He said…

“… we have to entice them to spend more time in order to make their first outbound trips in two or three years worth it.”

The news of this campaign comes after Thai VietJet announced the addition of flights to both the Bangkok – Fukuoka route to Japan. Starting October 1, Thai VietJet will serve the Bangkok – Fukuoka route five times per week from Monday to Saturday.

Will TAT get the 1.25 million Japanese tourists it’s aiming for next year? We’ll see.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post