TAT targets Indian travelers
PHUKET: Representatives of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Southern Region 4 Office will tomorrow set off for the subcontinent as part of a nine-day “Amazing Thailand Roadshow to India 2007″, with stops in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The road show, with funding by the Phuket Provincial Administration Organization (OrBorJor), will promote Phuket tourism and facilities to Indian travel agencies, the Indian press and the public to boost the number of Indian tourists visiting Phuket.
Suwalai Pinpradab, director of the TAT Southern Region 4 Office, said that India is the biggest tourism market in Southeast Asia, with enormous spending power. The number of Indian tourists visiting Phuket has been gradually increasing.
In 2006, some 430,000 Indian tourists came to Thailand, up 22% from the previous year. Between January and April this year there was a further 11% increase in the number of Indian tourists arriving in Bangkok by plane compared with the same period last year, she added.
Some 4,300 Indian tourists visited Phuket in 2005, with the figure almost tripling to 12,685 in 2006, she revealed.
Arrival figures for the first half of 2007 recorded over 15,700 Indian visitors, she added.
The most popular time for Indian tourists to visit Thailand is between May and June, when schools in India are closed for vacation.
A second influx occurs late-October to early-November, when many Indians celebrate the Hindu New Year Diwali, which falls on November 9 this year, K. Suwalai said.
The TAT plans to further expand the island’s appeal by enhancing Phuket’s image as a quality destination with a range of world-class facilities, specifically targeting meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) groups as well as honeymooners, professionals and management-level business travelers, she said.
