TAT, Thai Tourism Industry Join To Push Low Season Travel

[webfact]

TAT, tourism industry join to push low season travel

By Suchat Sritama

The Nation

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the private sector have plans in place to boost tourism in the low season.

This year the TAT will once again hold an Amazing Thailand Grand Sale, running from June 15 until August 15.

The national campaign aims to boost consumer spending at shops and department stores throughout the country in the low season.

TAT governor Suraphon Svetsreni said 15,000 participating shops would offer discounts of up to 80 per cent during the threemonth campaign. Revenue is expected to come in at around Bt1.9 billion.

The TAT will also hold a large sales fair from July 28 to 31 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.

Suraphon said the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale would draw tourists from around the region including the Japanese market, which has been hit by the radiation crisis.

The TAT will invite Japanese operators to Thailand for the Thailand Travel Mart this month to meet with local operators in a bid to improve the Japanese market in the second half of the year.

Japan is the secondlargest marฌket for Thailand after Malaysia. Arrivals from Japan dropped 1.19 per cent last year. However, during the first four months of this year, 411,923 Japanese visited Thailand, 9 per cent up on the same period last year.

Meanwhile, Pro Exhibition Management Co plans to host Travel Expo Thailand from August 4 to 7 at Impact Muang Thong Thani.

The event is expected to draw 100,000 visitors from Bangkok and the provinces and generate revenue of Bt300 million.

The company's managing direcฌtor, Manuspong Akiemrot, said tourism operators involved would offer discounts on domestic and overseas packages of up to 80 per cent.

About 800 booths have been reserved at the event.

-- The Nation 2011-06-04

[rkidlad]

I live and work in Thailand, and I love it. But the weather at the moment is awful. I don't even wanna be here right now. It's low season for a reason.

[Pib]

Seems the TAT and tourism industry would try to boost tourism throughout the year....or is that too much work.

[ginjag]

Seems the TAT and tourism industry would try to boost tourism throughout the year....or is that too much work.

Seems to me they are suggesting that the concentrate on Group tour--and shopping. GET YOUR FINGERS OUT, and start with a good example==like order your national airline with it's aging fleet to have a last ditch effort and LOWER their airfares --Start at national level to set an example to others. And I mean drastically lower them. When they get the new aircraft they will then have recovered some lost souls, from the years before.

Also get these scum touts that rob the tourists off the streets and behind bars. It's all well and good having price cuts in the shops when your customers are local Hi -So's, good for the rich, good excuse. TAT you have to give them lower air fares to attract them there is too much competition out there if you hadn't already noticed. Get them here first--THEN take care of them when they arrive=starting form arrivals at Swampy--to departure at Swampy

[EirikJohannesen]

80% off!! Then it indicates that the tourist areas are overpriced. Why not have a regular season with normal prices, and crack down on fraud.

[slapout]

Rise the high season price by 100%, offer 80% discount and your good to go. The mindset locally is addition, and sometimes multiplication, percentage is a curve ball which is hard to master.

[Bagwan]

I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for flying halfway round the World just to go shopping.

As for 80% off anything - 555555555555555555555555555555555555

[lovinglife]

I live and work in Thailand, and I love it. But the weather at the moment is awful. I don't even wanna be here right now. It's low season for a reason.

Don't know where you are but the weather is great in Hua Hin.

[Jimi007]

This year the TAT will once again hold an Amazing Thailand Grand Sale, running from June 15 until August 15.

The national campaign aims to boost consumer spending at shops and department stores throughout the country in the low season.

Don't they do this every year?

[OldeBellPedr]

The best things TAT could do to boost tourism are:

1. Talk to the Immigration dept: While TAT seeks to promote tourism, the immigration dept is doing its best to undermine it! Once again allowing non-imm O visa to visit friends would be a help. going back to 30 day visa runs would

do a lot as well.

2. Spend some of the large foreign currency reserves on infrastructure projects and helping the poor. This would serve to weaken the baht which would do more good than all the 'sales' they can dream up.

3. Reassure tourists that they won't be confined to their hotel rooms for two weekends without a drink over the election period. and rescind the law preventing alocohol sales to non Buddhists during Buddha holidays

4. End the pointless nationalist inspired border spat with Cambodia

5. Pump money into Thai airways to bring the food, drink and entertainment up to international standards

5 steps to reinvigourate tourism over the low season

[Samuian]

Seems the TAT and tourism industry would try to boost tourism throughout the year....or is that too much work.

May, June are notorious months in the thai travel & tourism industry... thats why - I assume.

And loads of investments have been made in this sector, so guess something has to happen, unless these "news" aren't just recorded messages, repeatedly aired from the ministry of inactive posts!

[blabla1]

Have a music festival every week with farang players, i'm sure that will draw tourists!!! :whistling: :lol:

[blabla1]

Or how about, no scams or frauds in low season, or 80% off on jet ski scams!!

[blabla1]

That sounds more like a Christmas list ....oh, they don't have Xmas...

The best things TAT could do to boost tourism are:

1. Talk to the Immigration dept: While TAT seeks to promote tourism, the immigration dept is doing its best to undermine it! Once again allowing non-imm O visa to visit friends would be a help. going back to 30 day visa runs would

do a lot as well.

2. Spend some of the large foreign currency reserves on infrastructure projects and helping the poor. This would serve to weaken the baht which would do more good than all the 'sales' they can dream up.

3. Reassure tourists that they won't be confined to their hotel rooms for two weekends without a drink over the election period. and rescind the law preventing alocohol sales to non Buddhists during Buddha holidays

4. End the pointless nationalist inspired border spat with Cambodia

5. Pump money into Thai airways to bring the food, drink and entertainment up to international standards

5 steps to reinvigourate tourism over the low season

[warfie]

The best things TAT could do to boost tourism are:

1. Talk to the Immigration dept: While TAT seeks to promote tourism, the immigration dept is doing its best to undermine it! Once again allowing non-imm O visa to visit friends would be a help. going back to 30 day visa runs would

do a lot as well.

2. Spend some of the large foreign currency reserves on infrastructure projects and helping the poor. This would serve to weaken the baht which would do more good than all the 'sales' they can dream up.

3. Reassure tourists that they won't be confined to their hotel rooms for two weekends without a drink over the election period. and rescind the law preventing alocohol sales to non Buddhists during Buddha holidays

4. End the pointless nationalist inspired border spat with Cambodia

5. Pump money into Thai airways to bring the food, drink and entertainment up to international standards

5 steps to reinvigourate tourism over the low season

But, that would be practical... useful... productive... logical...

[FOODLOVER]

That was 'High" season?

[JeffreyMcCollum]

I live and work in Thailand, and I love it. But the weather at the moment is awful. I don't even wanna be here right now. It's low season for a reason.

Sunny, clear skies, 32. Where are you ? It kust wonderful up in Chiang Mai. Just wish I didn't have tp work and I could go riding

[arrowsdawdle]

Yet another brilliant strategy...NOT. Low season is half way over and now they have a plan. Of course, they are only selling Thailand to Thais which rings of corrupt special interests at work in TAT because government tourism ministries typically do not get involved in domestic tourism. That is for the destinations to do. Tourism ministries have the responsibility in normal countries of creating increased inbound arrivals from other countries and the destinations then compete for market share. Here, it seems TAT is using their public sector budget promoting private sector interests and that just ain't right. But then, it is probably hard to get tea money from the tour operators in other countries whereas here it is a no brainer because the bureaucrats can just allocate more budget to cover their tea money.

[salapau]

Discounts of up to 80% begs the question " are NORMAL prices too high then, "

[krangeek]

I live and work in Thailand, and I love it. But the weather at the moment is awful. I don't even wanna be here right now. It's low season for a reason.

Don't know where you are but the weather is great in Hua Hin.

Well lucky ol' you, it's SHIT here on Phuket. Where most tourists unfortunately visit outside bkk and pattaya.

Edited June 4, 2011 by krangeek

[krangeek]

Have a music festival every week with farang players, i'm sure that will draw tourists!!! :whistling: :lol:

Just so long as they're not old fart neverwere's, preferably under the age of seventy.

[krangeek]

I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for flying halfway round the World just to go shopping.

As for 80% off anything - 555555555555555555555555555555555555

ONLY the idea of flying half way round the world to go shopPING would appeal to the cashed up Thai 'mindset'.

And as to 80% discounts? Pah! I see the 'we not make money because no tourists so we raise prices on every bloody thing' still alive and er, well ... on Phuket.

[thurien]

Discounts of up to 80% begs the question " are NORMAL prices too high then, "

no, that's o.k. because this is no normal merchandise, either! Most of this rubbish is being produced for those super-duper ding dong 110% bargain sales only (btw: not different from Europe, for that...Continental Xmas sales show the lowest-quality garbage from ? China! on parade)

Edited June 4, 2011 by thurien

[RickvanHeijningen]

Have a music festival every week with farang players, i'm sure that will draw tourists!!! :whistling: :lol:

Big problem , Farang players must have workpermit, allready farang players arrested in Changmai.

[rubl]

Maybe the TAT should organize 'election specials'.

[Misterwhisper]

80% off!! Then it indicates that the tourist areas are overpriced. Why not have a regular season with normal prices, and crack down on fraud.

I fully agree. 80% off is tantamount to admitting indirectly that those goods have been grossly overpriced before, i.e. you are selling at 80% discount and still make a profit on it, otherwise you wouldn't do it, right?

[pisico]

80% off!! Then it indicates that the tourist areas are overpriced. Why not have a regular season with normal prices, and crack down on fraud.

Define normal prices, please!

This is my version:

Normal in Thailand means to get as much as you can from a tourist in any way, shape or form. That applies to government and merchants. Anyway, chances are that those tourists here and now will not come back again for more financial abuse. So, fleece them now!

Thais seem to feel a moral duty to perform a total cashectomy on each and every blithering tourist they come across. Mentality of an underdeveloped country?

That LOS slogan was a TAT ploy to enhance the country's image internationally apres-coup.

The "burrocrats" in charge do not get it because they live and work in a bubble. They only have ceremonial contact with anything tourism. Otherwise a campaign to promote better treatment of tourists, equal pricing for tourists and come down on gouging would have been the norm for years.

They do not get it and yet, tourism represents almost 10% of the country's GDP.

The prevailing mind set, as others before me have described, is this: the country and Thais are oh! so special that, not matter what, tourists will continue flocking to Thailand.

Now, more than ever, that the cost of flying has skyrocketed, TAT should be more attune to that reality. Make coming to Thailand more affordable, give tourists real protection not just flyers and lip service that amounts to saving face. Clean up the cities, control the dog population (a sign of urban decay), make the pedestrian safe and protected by actually enforcing traffic laws.

Any chance of that happening any time soon?

[mads]

I thought the malls where doing this all the time. Shops seems to have 50-80% clearance sale or sale all year round. All a load of bs if you ask me.

[Tokay]

Because when I think "high quality goods" I think Thailand tourist goods and "80% off" sales.

They'd make more money if they just ripped them off by doing things like scamming them on jet skis, ridiculous baht bus and tuk tuk prices, and double pricing on everything. Oh wait... nevermind.

Just make more hooka bars and fish spas. That will fix low season.

[MILT]

I live and work in Thailand, and I love it. But the weather at the moment is awful. I don't even wanna be here right now. It's low season for a reason.

Don't know where you are but the weather is great in Hua Hin.

Chiangmai weather is quite AWESOME Think I w2ill stick around a bit more