Tat Campaigns For More Foreign Tourists To Visit Thailand

[george]

TAT campaigns for more foreign tourists to visit Thailand

BANGKOK: -- As part of a campaign to generate more earnings from tourism, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has just conducted a roadshow in Indonesia and plans to hold another one in India next month, a senior TAT official said Sunday.

TAT deputy governor Juthaporn Rerngronasa said the tourism organisation in collaboration with 29 private hotels, tour firms, restaurants and shopping malls traveled to Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, and Jakarta, the capital, between August 22-24 and talked to their Indonesian counterparts during the Amazing Thailand Roadshow.

She said 80 business operators from Surabaya and over 250 operators from Jakarta participated in the event.

During the first half of 2007, a total of 99,155 Indonesians visited Thailand, up 3.01 per cent from the corresponding period of 2006. It is expected the just ended roadshow will help boost the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Thailand during the second half of 2007 to meet the TAT target of 4 per cent or 227,000 visitors compared to the 218,167 Indonesians who actually visited this country last year.

Mrs. Juthaporn said that TAT would organize a similar roadshow in India from September 1-7. Shopping, entertainment and serviced apartment operators will present their products to prospective tourists in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi during their stay.

--TNA 2007-08-26

[hgma]

3 weeks and your out!

new Thai slogan to attract "fast" tourisme.

[Big A]

......As part of a campaign to generate more earnings from tourism......

Well, a good start would be to clean up the airport and I mean clean up.

Get rid of all bent customs officials, taxi mafia scum, touts and any other low life who is hel_l bent on getting the last penny out of you before you even hit the motorway. I know this applies to a lot of other countries as well (before the 'If you don't like Thailand....' brigade home in).

Oh! and put a smile on the immigration people's faces. Don't forget, theirs are the first tourists see.

Only then is your real work beginning!!

Edited August 26, 2007 by Big A

[terryp]

Indonesia & India ??????? more 3 day 4 night group tours no-doubt…quality tourists are now out of fashion are they; or are the target groups from Indo & India the new Millionaire HiSo set

What is being promoted Shopping>? WAKE UP; Mall shopping in Thailand is mostly over priced.

I really believe that the T.A.T don’t have a clue as to what they are doing…both the Government & the T.A.T officials need to take a good hard look at what is going on around Thailand. There is a lot of competition for tourist who actually spend money…not group sheep tours

[bangkoksingapore]

id love to see the thai government cleans up thailand's image as a place for cheap sex. this is what is really killing its tourism imho.

[jumnien]

If cheap sex is hurting tourism then I'd hate to see it go. The last thing we need is even more tourists.

[chiang mai]

id love to see the thai government cleans up thailand's image as a place for cheap sex. this is what is really killing its tourism imho.

I'm struggling to find the words here so I guess I wont even try!

Edited August 26, 2007 by chiang mai

[bingobongo]

maybe if they offer free military tank rides or the opportunity to fire a soldier's weapon that will help encourage folks from visiting the LOJ (land of junta)

[ercorn]

"Only Quality Tourists Please"

[steveromagnino]

Indonesia & India ??????? more 3 day 4 night group tours no-doubt…quality tourists are now out of fashion are they; or are the target groups from Indo & India the new Millionaire HiSo set

What is being promoted Shopping>? WAKE UP; Mall shopping in Thailand is mostly over priced.

I really believe that the T.A.T don’t have a clue as to what they are doing…both the Government & the T.A.T officials need to take a good hard look at what is going on around Thailand. There is a lot of competition for tourist who actually spend money…not group sheep tours

Indians are a direct request from virtually every major retail operator in Bangkok. They are currently the Kingdom's top spenders on average per day, and shop HEAVILY at places like CentralWorld, Paragon, Gaysorn, King Power. have you ever even been to India in the last few years and looked at the affluence?? I am guessing probably not.

Terryp - I am already awake and plenty of the retailers and hotels are unconcerned regarding your observation that mall shopping is mostly overpriced. Plenty of the shoppers coming in from places like Indo and India are equally uncaring and speak with their wallets. After all, try buying luxury brand stuff in those countries. And on top of that, try buying Thai fashion, watches, silver, jewelry and enjoying 80-90% discounts like many of the retailers have been holding in the last 2 months - hard to pass up. Of course, maybe you need to come from a country where bargaining is prevalent or to be buying those categories to appreciate the prices of Bangkok. The level of discount has mostly matched the price increase from the stronger currency.

I honestly don't believe the TAT have a clue either; for reasons like Big A has mentioned (although most are beyond their jurristiction) and a host of others. Bunch of morons with all the wrong measures for judging their own success. In fact, very shortly, I predict that perhaps another govt agency is going to virtually start competing with the TAT for promoting aspects of Thailand - you heard it here first.

But on approaching Indians, they are responding to some fairly specific requests from some people who have a ton of analysis to back up why they want THailand to promote to the Middle East, India, SE Asia. If that means a few less tourists hanging out at Walking Street and the Sukhumvit beer bars and going to the Hyatt for non alchoholic smoothies instead, then well I think just maybe the Thai economy can handle that.

[ovenman]

What is being promoted Shopping>? WAKE UP; Mall shopping in Thailand is mostly over priced.

Indians are a direct request from virtually every major retail operator in Bangkok. They are currently the Kingdom's top spenders on average per day, and shop HEAVILY at places like CentralWorld, Paragon, Gaysorn, King Power. have you ever even been to India in the last few years and looked at the affluence?? I am guessing probably not.

Better yet, been to India lately and seen what generally passes for the shopping experience there? Malaysia also does well with Indian shoppers and Malaysia is also appealing to Indians with the types of food available there.

[torrenova]

I have businesses here which are being hurt by the fall in tourist numbers and though it is focussed on Bangkok, I was heartily surprised to see the "malaysia through the ages" advert gone from BBC World and its replacement from the TAT. Why it had to wait for me to see that ###### Malaysia advert a thousand times I do not know but more of this and a lot of advertisements in Europe and the USA are what we need to drive tourist back up again.

We need tourists of all classes who actually spend money here. It is no good shipping in pennyless russians on cheap subsidised flights as all they do is walk around and complain. Real Russian tourists can afford regular flight prices.

Neither do we need more from the indian sub continent or africa. They are either loaded or pennyless and though the top end undoubtedly add to the economy, their presence can be forgone to rid ourselves of the trash which comes in from the bottom end.

In Mallorca about 16 years ago, they decided to pull down some old apartment blocks to get rid of the "lager lout" image. These 1 bedroomed units used to house 4 people who all spent about GBP500 per week. The new 1 bed units housed familys who would spend about GBP750 per week in total if you were lucky. The net result ? far less cash injected into the economy.

Yes, I deal primarily in the expat and Pattaya tourist business nbut never forget that Wallmart became as big as it is by piling it high and selling it cheap, not by trying to sell one item for a thousand dollars.

Years after leaving Mallorca (lived in lager lout central for 3 years), I returned to stay in multi hundred dollar per night suites in hotels like La Residencia. Why ? because I had once experienced the other side of Mallorca. Thail;and could do well to remember that the guy sitting in his Bt1000 a day Pattaya hotel room may be able to afford Bt10,000 a day but choses not to and spends that money in other sectors of the economy. Lose the Bt1000 a day room and you lose the other Bt10,000 daily cash injection only to replace it with a Bt2500 a day hotel room and people who only spend Bt1500 a day.

[chiang mai]

Years after leaving Mallorca (lived in lager lout central for 3 years), I returned to stay in multi hundred dollar per night suites in hotels like La Residencia. Why ? because I had once experienced the other side of Mallorca. Thail;and could do well to remember that the guy sitting in his Bt1000 a day Pattaya hotel room may be able to afford Bt10,000 a day but choses not to and spends that money in other sectors of the economy. Lose the Bt1000 a day room and you lose the other Bt10,000 daily cash injection only to replace it with a Bt2500 a day hotel room and people who only spend Bt1500 a day.

How very true

[JR Texas]

Years after leaving Mallorca (lived in lager lout central for 3 years), I returned to stay in multi hundred dollar per night suites in hotels like La Residencia. Why ? because I had once experienced the other side of Mallorca. Thail;and could do well to remember that the guy sitting in his Bt1000 a day Pattaya hotel room may be able to afford Bt10,000 a day but choses not to and spends that money in other sectors of the economy. Lose the Bt1000 a day room and you lose the other Bt10,000 daily cash injection only to replace it with a Bt2500 a day hotel room and people who only spend Bt1500 a day.

How very true

They continue to do stupid things. To get back on track, they need to abolish all of the visa rule changes that have taken place since 1998 (make people feel welcome again and not under attack by a xenophobic administration). Then they need to promote Thailand as a destination for ALL tourists--no specific countries, skin colors, eye colors, or wallet sizes. Then they must deal with the collapse of the local life systems (air, water, soil, living biota), removal of democracy, overpopulation and overcrowding, extreme heat, total corruption from top to bottom, etc. The change is visa rules is the only thing that is simple......the other things will take a lot more effort and thought. Thought..........now we have a problem that perhaps cannot be solved!

[britmaveric]

Didnt the TAT say previously they didnt need more tourists, focusing on quality??

[taxexile]

Didnt the TAT say previously they didnt need more tourists, focusing on quality??

yes , but that was last week.

[ChiangMaiAmerican]

Remember this one?

Thai tourism promotion lacks proper coordination, seminar hears

Experts believe Thailand's tourism promotion policy is the worst in Asean because the agencies involved fail to coordinate their work to achieve the ultimate goal of attracting visitors to the Kingdom.

http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/24/bus...ss_30046310.php

[womble]

This is what happens when people are awarded high positions in ministries and government agencies due to who they know not what they know.

TAT has been a disgrace for years.

Brit has already pointed out that last week they wanted to focus of quality not quantity.

When will Thailand realise that to maximise tourist $ they should carry on doing what they do best, holidays for those interested in culture, backpacking, beaches and ofcourse sex tourism.

If they really want to attract more big spenders then the $ earned from what they do well now could be pumped back into infrastructure and training, maybe then they will attract more of the top segment of society. This should still be seen as an addition to what they already have though and not lose the other markets, business should be about diversification.

Unfortunatley we know too well they will never pump enough $ back in so they are doomed to faiure in being a high end destination. They can do very well at being a destination for all that attracts some big spenders. A big spender only destination............

Never............

Besides the amount of people involved in tourism here, there would never be enough big spenders for all those involved, Large numbers of small and medium spenders will spend a lot more than a relativley small number of only big spenders.

The elite here own 4/5* hotels though, not cheap resorts, so why would they want the people that stay in any other type of acom other than the most expensive.

We all know the "elite" couldn't give 2 hoots for the general population.

Edited August 27, 2007 by womble

[Thaising]

Didnt the TAT say previously they didnt need more tourists, focusing on quality??

yes , but that was last week.

And yet they keep spinning new slogan every fortnight without actual coordination from different related agency.

[Scott]

The basic problem is greed. They have as much as said that what they want is the Tourists' money--not the people themselves.

Of course everyone wants to make a living, but the greedy often shoot themselves in the foot. This may be the case with Thailand.

[steveromagnino]

....a lot of advertisements in Europe and the USA are what we need to drive tourist back up again.

We need tourists of all classes who actually spend money here. It is no good shipping in pennyless russians on cheap subsidised flights as all they do is walk around and complain. Real Russian tourists can afford regular flight prices.

Neither do we need more from the indian sub continent or africa. They are either loaded or pennyless and though the top end undoubtedly add to the economy, their presence can be forgone to rid ourselves of the trash which comes in from the bottom end.

The new development of Central in Pattaya and the high end brands expected to move in are doing so almost totally because of the increased Russian tourism. Russians going to Pattaya spend.

The data on Indian spending, at least from the TAT and every other source currently available including in house data from luxury brands and the largest dept store operator supports the belief that they also come to spend.

Europeans and Americans may be important for businesses providing services to those nationalities, but overall i do not think and the data does not in any way support that they are to be considered the be all and end all of Thai tourism; in fact there are major reasons why large scale tourism from those countries is never likely to get above the levels it is reaching now using brand advertising alone (proximity/time required to visit, tastes and preference, reality that they have been marketed to for the last 20 years, large number of people who have already visited and therefore for whom brand awareness advertising is less useful than CRM/more direct marketing). And for Americans, the majority don't ever leave their own country, on average most do not get long holiday leave with their job as Europeans do, their economy is not doing that well right now and their dollar is so low against the baht right now that a 17 hour flight here plus holiday is NOT a cheap proposition.

The growth is in China, Japan, Korea and the increasing affluence of the middle east/India. There are some key segments such as medical tourism and MICE that have shown consistent year on year growth throughout the turmoil of coups, tsunamis, bird flu and SARS. Retiree longterm stays from Scandanavia.

But the TAT think in terms of big scale brand advertising and old school old markets. Better to do something than nothing, but what they are doing is yet again appealing to the masses when the growth and sustainability is in the niches. Such as bicycle tours. Sailing. Diving. Cooking schools. Spiritual tours. Specialist interests that bring people back year in year out - just like MICE and medical tourism. And you don't get that by peddling one off places to visit like Wat Phra Geow alone.

Exotic culture & attractions that are uniquely Thai, climate, simple infrastucture that makes everything convenient and simple. Focus on the market segments that generate the best returns for the least damage. Quality not quantity. Doing tourism planning is not hard at all.

Not sure whether it is greed or being inept that holds back the TAT. I think inept; the infrastructure stuff are mostly departments outside the control of TAT.

[NBT TV Phuket]

The international tourist arrivals to Thailand for the first half of this year are officially 3.3% more than last year’s half.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand or TAT have released their official figures of international tourist arrivals to the whole country, based on data sourced from the Immigration Bureau of the Police Department. They show just over 6.954 million visitors or 3.3% more than the same period last year. Of those 5.789 million came by air, 1.03 million came by land, and 135,000 came by sea. Looking at the origins by continents, about 3.6 million of the visitors were from East Asia, down 3.9%, while 1.9 million were from Europe up 14.4%, 454,000 were from the Americas down 1.5%, 346,000 were from South Asia up 10.6%, 350,000 were from Oceania or Australia & New Zealand up 20.7%, 190,000 were from the Middle East up 20%, and only 52,000 were from Africa up 9.7%. The country with the most visitors continued to be Malaysia with 691,000 visitors, mostly by land across the southern border with Thailand.

from Andaman News TV11 (VHF dial) 8.30am + FM90.5 Radio Thailand 6pm, both broadcast from Phuket City to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces, Mazz Radio FM108 at 7.30pm in Phuket & maybe later on Phuket Cable TV Channel 1, Friday 24 August 2007 & www.Thaisnews.com

[lazeeboy]

The basic problem is greed. They have as much as said that what they want is the Tourists' money--not the people themselves.

Of course everyone wants to make a living, but the greedy often shoot themselves in the foot. This may be the case with Thailand.

[Payboy]

"Only Quality Tourists Please"

[Mid]

Tat Campaigns For More Foreign Tourists To Visit Thailand

there's a novel idea .........................

[tropo]

Oh! and put a smile on the immigration people's faces. Don't forget, theirs are the first tourists see.

Wouldn't that be nice?...Immigration personnel welcoming tourists at the airport and losing that officious snarl.

I remember my visit here. Having the tag LOS, I was expecting a friendlier welcome.

[UnknownPoster]

The cheating of tourists is a big problem. There is no protection and the Tourist Police are helpless.

It starts at the Airport and the poor il-informed tourists is pased off from one cheater to another.

Every tourist spot is crawling with scam artists looking to fleece visitors.

They troll there all day, every day, looking for sombody to lie to.

They are a bunch of disrespctfull, uneducated thugs.

No wonder the TAT needs to fine new customers every year.

[Bjorn]

Even if TAT have any success in attracting tourists to come and visit Thailand, many won't come back. They will remember how they have been xheated by the airport taxi (really a big maffia out there!). Apart from that, they will feel ripped off by all the tourist sites as well as museums, temples, etc etc where they charge foreigners up to 10 times more.

Also, why not spend some time to clean up the cities, especially those where TAT can expect tourists.

To me it looks like TAT isn't very businessminded. They simply don't understand what has to be done.

[Cobalt60]

Not quite sure how to approach this subject without unleashing a whole can of whoopass on myself, but I have been in Thailand many times with a UK born colleague of Indian parents and there is an undercurrent of racisit feeling towards him from quite a few locals on many occasions. Not sure if targeting India is so smart if this is the general view.

Edited August 27, 2007 by Cobalt60

[Old Man River]

Not quite sure how to approach this subject without unleashing a whole can of whoopass on myself, but I have been in Thailand many times with a UK born colleague of Indian parents and there is an undercurrent of racisit feeling towards him from quite a few locals on many occasions. Not sure if targeting India is so smart if this is the general view.

Cobalt 60, it is a valid point, but as you say it is an undercurrent. From an economic standpoint, the two countries are getting closer and any underlying feelings some Thai's have for Indians should not be felt by tourists to Thailand. In all my years in Bangkok, I have never seen an open display of this undercurrent, but you do hear comments so you know it exists.