Thailand switches focus to European market
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Thailand is switching its attention to the European market in an effort to boost visitor arrivals ahead of the winter tourism high season.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has recently been on a mission to drive Asian arrivals, especially from China, during the green season. But with the European peak season approaching, the tourism board said it is now embarking on “a raft of tactical marketing strategies” to stimulate travel to the country from Europe, in an effort to boost arrivals from the fourth quarter of 2014.
“Europe is Thailand’s second largest source of tourists after Asia, and we are very pleased to see that our key markets, the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Eastern Europe, are all registering strong growth in terms of arrivals,” said TAT governor Thawatchai Arunyik.
“We are committed to working further with these markets, and will continue to invest in our time, effort and budget to ensure that Thailand remains the top, long-haul travel destination for European travellers.”
Methods being used to drive more European tourists include trade and media fam trips, designing special packages for tour operators, and social media activities.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Immigration Bureau has announced that it will now enable tourists from 48 countries, including 27 European nations, to extend their visas by 30 days. Citizens of countries including all EU member states, most ASEAN counties, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, South Africa, the US and UAE, will be able to extend their tourist visas for a period of 30 days from the expiry date, for a cost of THB1,900 (US$59) per person.
In 2013, Thailand welcomed 6.3 million European travellers, up 11.6% year-on-year. During the first half of this year arrivals from several key markets continued to climb, including France (+4.5%), Eastern Europe (8.8%), the UK (6.2%), Italy (3.6%) and Spain (2.3%).
For the coming winter peak season, the TAT said the recent unrest in Thailand had had “no impact on numbers of bookings”.
Thailand arrivals by region (2013)
East Asia – 60.2% of total
Europe – 23.6%
South Asia – 5.0%
Americas – 4.4%
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