Ashish Ranjan
Thailand targets 2 million Indian visitors: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) introduced its 2023 theme, “Visit Thailand Year 2023: Astonishing New Chapters”, at the South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in Greater Noida, India, last month.Before the trade exhibition, TAT hosted a reception in New Delhi titled “A Million Thanks: Amazing Thailand Night Reception” to thank the Indian travel industry for promoting Thailand as a popular tourist destination.
Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the TAT, stated: “Thailand’s most significant and primary tourism market has always been India. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all of our industry partners in India for assisting to enhance Thailand’s reputation as a popular travel destination for Indians.”
After Malaysia, India was the second greatest source of tourists to Thailand in 2022. Last year, nearly one million Indians out of a total of over 11 million foreign visitors visited Thailand.
As of February 7 of this year, Thailand had received 2.58 million foreign tourists, including 122,303 Indians.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) applauded India’s decision to eliminate COVID testing requirements for travellers arriving from Thailand as of February 13, stating that it would stimulate the recovery of the Thai tourism industry. It subsequently revised its target for Indian arrivals to two million, up from the previously anticipated one and a half million.
Tourism associations in popular Thai destinations such as Phuket hailed the elimination of testing requirements.
The president of the Phuket Tourist Association, ThanethTantipiriyakij, was quoted by The Bangkok Post as saying that the end of COVID-19 testing requirements in India occurred earlier than anticipated and should generate positive momentum for Phuket as large tour groups return shortly. He added that the testing requirement affected large Indian tour groups, such as MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions) and wedding groups.
The Thai tourism authorities are interested in Indian visitors because their average stay in the “land of smiles” is lengthier than average and they spend approximately USD1,000 per trip. They are also very enthusiastic about the prospective growth of Indian tourists due to the country’s burgeoning wealth and expanding middle class, which has led to an increase in the number of Indians travelling abroad.
Thailand has become a very popular destination for Indians over the years due to its beautiful beaches, nature reserves, rustic countryside and hill towns, fascinating cities with breathtaking temples, delectable food, exciting nightlife, and high-quality accommodations, all of which are available at very affordable prices.
According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), citing a survey conducted by the British travel agency Thomas Cook in 2021, Thailand was one of the top three most desired travel destinations for Indians. Maldives and the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) were the other two.
According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, nearly 2 million Indians visited Thailand in 2019, making them the third largest group of foreign visitors. In 2018, Indians comprised the sixth-largest group of international tourists. It is a significant increase from 2008, when 537,000 Indians visited and India ranked eleventh in terms of visitor numbers.
To demonstrate its commitment to the Indian tourism market, Thailand sent a large delegation to the SATTE exhibition, comprised of over 40 tourism industry suppliers. This was the forty-first edition of the exhibition, and Thailand’s fourteenth time participating.The TAT’s stand at SATTE 2023, where visitors could experience fascinating demonstrations and workshops on making traditional Thai arts and crafts with Nora beads and traditional Thai potpourri, was a major draw for the Thai presence.
Thai Airways International, THAI Smile Airways, hotels, tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs), and attractions, as well as the Association of Thai Travel Agents and Phuket Tourist Association, were among the Thai companies present at the event.
Promotion of sports tourism was among the TAT’s marketing initiatives at SATTE 2023. Golf tourism was extensively promoted through a “City Marketing” strategy. In accordance with this, Pattaya City had a dedicated booth at the show, demonstrating the popular seaside resort’s abundance of sports tourism opportunities, attractions, and tourism-related businesses.
TAT and Pattaya City co-hosted a “Golf and Exclusive Networking” event on February 10 at the Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi in an effort to increase awareness of Pattaya as a golfing destination among Indian golfers.
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Mr. Yuthasak, TAT Governor, stated, “SATTE 2023 is a key marketplace for TAT and Thai tourism suppliers to meet with our overseas partners, to showcase Thailand’s full reopening to tourism, and to promote the kingdom’s direction towards high value and sustainable tourism, including our soft-power foundations, in order to provide a meaningful travel experience.”
