Thailand focuses tourism on first-time visitors and India

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has expanded its target demographic a bit in its plan to reinvigorate the tourist economy in the country. The new plan the TAT is embracing is to focus not just on the so-called “high quality” tourists, but also to chase first-time visitors to Thailand.

Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Yuthasak Supasorn is confident and hopeful, saying that the lowest point for Thai tourism had passed, now that 2,000 to 3,000 international travellers are arriving each day in Thailand’s reopening. But he calls for everyone in the tourism sector or related industries to work together to cater to high-value travellers as international travel grows.

The goal is to create a sustainable and growing tourist economy by attracting a wide variety of these high-quality travellers and creating a great experience for them. Particular focus should be given to reaching new travellers who have never visited the country before, particularly from growing demographics like India.

The TAT figures that, in a market as big as India, even if Thailand were to capture a very small percentage of the people there as new travellers, it would amount to millions of new tourists experiencing the country. Plus there are millions of Indian communities around the world and, combined with other South Asians, account for 24% of the world’s population.

The Indian market also has plenty of subgenres to try to attract, such as families, weddings, hosting Bollywood film productions, and the 600-million young travellers there. Thailand is a very popular top destination for Indian tourists, with the only drawback being limited access to familiar foods that other countries cater to better.

The government also is aiming to up domestic tourism to account for one-third of all tourism in Thailand, with destinations like Kanchanaburi, Khao Lak, Nan, Nakhon Nayok, Phetchaburi, and Sukhothai seeing increases already in visitors. As vaccination in Thailand increases, the tourism figures are expected to go up and up.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post