TAT campaigns to attract more Chinese tourists

Travel & Tourism Updates

TAT campaigns to attract more Chinese tourists

Thailand’s major tourism players are scrambling to lure back Chinese visitors in the wake of the Phuket boat disaster in July that claimed 47 lives.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is undertaking a series of tactical promotions to encourage Chinese tourists to visit the Kingdom during the lucrative high season.

The Royal Thai government has also responded to pleas for help from travel trade organisations by waiving visa fees nationals from 21 source markets until 31 January 2019.

Thailand welcomed 2.71 million visitors in October, down a fraction year-on-year. The downturn reflects the reduced numbers of visitors from mainland China – down by almost 20 percent compared to the same month in 2017.

However, the total number of international visitors to Thailand recorded during the first 10 months of 2018 was 31,253,920, up 8.43 percent on the same period in 2017, and the total for this year is expected to be close to 38 million.

KResearch, part of Kasikorn Bank,

is predicting that international tourist arrivals will total 37.99 million, up 6.7 percent compared to 2017 with tourism revenues of two trillion baht (up 9.2% on past year).

The Royal Thai government has responded to pleas for help from travel trade organisations by waiving visa fees nationals from 21 source markets until 31 January 2019. The move is designed to deliver up to 500,000 additional international arrivals.

Cumulative data published by Thailand’s tourism ministry officials

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shows that China has remained the leading source market with just over nine million arrivals recorded from 1 January to 31 October.

However, the monthly downward trend since the boat disaster in Phuket has prompted action by the TAT to restore the confidence of the Chinese travel tour operators and their many millions of clients.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn stressed the importance of rebuilding confidence levels and it has been seeking support from local operators to impose ‘strict safety guidelines’.

The TAT promotion ‘Amazing Thailand Grand Sale Passport Privileges’ was also designed to stimulate bookings and TAT activities in China included strong presence in Shanghai at two major travel events - the International Luxury Travel Market

show and the China International Travel Mart.

The campaign is set to continue in 2019 with the TAT organising, in cooperation with the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Chinese Embassy officials in Bangkok, a series of Chinese Lunar New Year festivities in Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai. It is understood that the 2019 Chinese New Year celebrations will be staged in Siam Square, partly to attract a younger audience.

Amazing Thailand road shows will be held on the Chinese mainland and there are plans to continue the annual Chinese-Thai friendship caravan in 2019 with expanded overland travel itineraries in neighbouring Mekong countries.

The TAT is reportedly working with the Royal Thai Navy to establish effective

marine surveillance along the Andaman coastal region and in the Gulf of Thailand. There has also been some discussion with the Thai Meteorological Department and China’s Aliabad to co-operate on a bilingual real-time weather notification system.

A marketing campaign to promote secondary cities in Thailand, known as ‘Amazing Thailand Go Local’, is designed to establish what is described as ‘a fairer and more manageable distribution of tourists and tourism revenues between urban and rural areas and to even out what the TAT describes as ‘monthly travel seasonality’.

In a bid to ease congestion at immigration caused by Chinese tourists, airports in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket and Hat Yai have introduced dedicated lanes manned by officials that speak Mandarin.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn (third from right) pictured at the launch of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale promotion.

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