8 Billion Baht Sought For TAT's 'Miracle Thailand' Campaign

[webfact]

Bt8 bn sought for TAT's 'Miracle Thailand' campaign

By Suchat Sritama

The Nation

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will ask the government for Bt8.4 billion to finance its new 2011-2012 tourism campaign, "Miracle Thailand".

The Cabinet will be asked to approve the budget by next month before the new financial year kicks off in October. This new campaign will replace TAT's long-running "Amazing Thailand" theme.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who presented her government's tourism policies to the Cabinet, hopes to boost total visitors to 30 million per year in the next four years. The private sector has predicted that the country would have more than 19 million tourists this year. The new government is also hoping to boost tourism income to Bt2 trillion per year by 2016.

TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said the country's tourism industry needed more money to achieve its goals, adding that the additional funding would be spent mostly on marketing activities both in local and foreign markets.

Kongkrit Hirankit, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, has called on Yingluck to help push the tourism industry forward because it desperately needs the confidence of operators overseas.

Suraphon said tourists were returning to Thailand after the July 3 general elections, and the industry should pick up significantly if there are no threats.

"The number of international tourists at Suvarnabhumi Airport grew by 30 per cent from August 1 to 20. This is a very good sign for high season this year," he said.

In the first seven months of this year, Thailand has already welcomed more than 11 million tourists despite ongoing political activities.

However, TAT is preparing to deal with the economic slowdown in key markets like Europe and last week's earthquake in the United States, which may halt inbound traffic.

"All TAT offices in the US and Europe were told to keep an eye on the situation, but continue selling Thailand because it is still a value-for-money destination compared to other countries in the region," Suraphon said.

Meanwhile, TCT has suggested that the government and TAT focus on regional markets and reclaim visitors from key markets such as Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Tourism authorities are also urged to capture emerging markets like India, China and Russia.

-- The Nation 2011-08-29

[whybother]

It's a Miracle people would believe that 8 billion baht would actually be spent on a tourism campaign.

[bkkjames]

No harm in asking I guess, when questioned about it official said, "you don't believe in miracles?"

[Ricardo]

Thailand is value-for-money, compared with Vietnam or Cambodia or Laos ? It takes a 'Miracle Thailand' to turn expensive into value-for-money !

[kraplung]

If you're searching for a miracle on your holidays you need to go to Lourdes not Thailand.

Thailand is still a great holiday destination but it isn't the cheap, exotic, tourist friendly country it once was nor is it a classy up market destination either. Another problem is that whilst the people are welcoming that doesn't always go for the officials.

What will be a miracle is if Thialand's endless ambitious visitor projections ever come to fruition.

Edited August 29, 2011 by kraplung

[Buchholz]

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who presented her government's tourism policies to the Cabinet, hopes to boost total visitors to 30 million per year

30 million... hahahaha...

The new government is also hoping to boost tourism income to Bt2 trillion per year by 2016.

2 million Elite Cards

,

[jalansanitwong]

'Miracle' is a very risky word to use in any promo . Farangs dont believe in miracles so who told TAT to use it ?

[kevc]

And to kick it off lets make it harder for the tourist by insisting on pre booked accomadation with their tourist visas.

[steelepulse]

It will be a miracle if even half of the budget doesn't disappear into various pockets.

[moe666]

And to kick it off lets make it harder for the tourist by insisting on pre booked accomadation with their tourist visas.

Most visitors to Thailand donot need tourist visas as they may only stay a couple of weeks. The majority of tourist actually have jobs to return to and bills to pay they are not on eternal holiday as some think.

[laurentbkk]

What kind of miracles should we expect ?

the end of jet ski scams ?

the end of corruption ?

the end of dirty beaches or polluted water ?

the end of certain people's arrogance ?

For me Thailand will always be Amazing ....

[renaissanc]

One of the activities is going to be a game called, "Find the Casino!". Thai police are allowed to enter the competitions, but they are not expected to win any prizes. The awards will be presented by the Chief of Police, who will no doubt make comments, such as: "Well I never! So many casinos within 200 metres of police stations?"

[Boater]

to be honest the whole of TAT needs a shack up, no one there seems to know anything about the visiting tourists

my suggestion would be for the TAT to have a panel of Forigners made up of each major country that visits thailand to assist with these dumb campaigns and to advise ' hey this is a load of <deleted> and that is what peope will think ' before speding 8 billion THB .... also to be able to address the real problems Tourist face when coming here

[looping]

They may have hit the nail on the head... for many single male tourists, a miracle will certainly happen during their visit!!!

[khaowong1]

What earthquake? Are they talking about the Big one in San Francisco in 1906? We got over that one. The latest one was just a hiccup..

Edited August 29, 2011 by khaowong1

[Bakseedaa]

It's a Miracle people would believe that 8 billion baht would actually be spent on a tourism campaign.

The word "Syphon" comes to mind..! Should TAT not be self funding..? why they are not self funding beats me... all businesses connected with the tourist industry should cough up... tax payers money is too easy..!

[softgeorge]

With things like more strict visa requirements, crackdown on sex tourism, people dying in hotels from unknown causes, farangs being murdered, scams and the list goes on, I hardly think they will need 8 billion baht to promote the Miracle Tag. The way it is going I think it will be a miracle on it's own if people still come. A 30% increase in people arriving at swampy, how many of these are actually staying in Thailand and not getting connecting flights to other parts of Asia and the world?

[timekeeper]

it will be a miracle if anyone comes here based on the advertising produced by them

the last campaign featured some brit chav looking tosser, covered in tattoos, in a Singha wife beater, wearing his battered baseball hat back to front

when asked what he thought of Thiland you would not have been surprised if he had said, ''its great you can get cheap drugs here''

the mere image of him would be enough to turn away any good business

TAT should look at the Malaysia-Truly Asia campaign

now theres quality tourist advertising that actually makes you want to go there................

Edited August 29, 2011 by george
Profanity removed

[sprq]

Theer will never be a better slogan for this country than "Amazing Thailand". It covers all bases, suits all purposes. "Miracle Thailand" is just plain silly.

And a budget of 280 million dollars is absurd.

[crusader79]

Reminiscent of the American "Food Pyramid", continually adjusted and perfected with great fanfare, as the underlying population became fatter and fatter and more unhealthy.

[CosmicSurfer]

'Miracle' is a very risky word to use in any promo . Farangs dont believe in miracles so who told TAT to use it ?

Since when do Thai's care about the correct Meaning or Usage of English words.. They are Thai.. they create their own Definitions.

Examples :

Miracle - Something that actually works despite our Best efforts to screw it up by our Lack of Planning.

Mansion - A Run-down lo-So Condo/Apartment Building, not a Rich Person's Large Home.

"Amazing" being Positive and never Negative

"Serious" being only Negative and never Positive or Neutral

"Democracy" means Unelected politicians can create laws, and Freedom and Equality are not required.

"Hub" = Thailand, which is the Center of Everything.

"Coming Soon".. maybe in the Next Decade or Never!

"Customer Service" Not in Thai Vocabulary

"Suvarnabhumi" ????? Oh.. You mean Suwannapoom!!!

Etc.

Add your Own...

CS

Edited August 29, 2011 by CosmicSurfer

[Angelatarangela]

For the love of all things holy (pun intended) can the TAT please do some market research! Get someone who actually speaks English, don't just use the thesaurus on your black market copy of Microsoft Word. At least Amazing Thailand was grammatically correct and made sense. Besides which, it was so easy to make fun of! Oh well! Goodbye, Amazing Thailand; hello, "it'll be a Miracle if the tourist industry survives"!

[softgeorge]

<br>It will be a miracle if even half of the budget doesn't disappear into various pockets.<br>

<br><br>Thinking of a new slogan is hard work and one should be paid handsomely for his/her time. There will still be a couple of 100,000 thai baht left over to print a few flyers.<br>

[IAMSOBAD]

It is a miracle that the TAT NEVER puts pressure on local governments to ARREST THAI CRIMINALS who defraud and harm 30 million tourists.

The MIRACLE OF THE AMAZING internet will destroy THAILAND by word of mouth from VICTIMS ON HOLIDAY.

All smoke and mirrors again.

[AyG]

Miracle Thailand: the place where nobody is too fat, old, ugly or smelly to have sex. Truly a miracle.

[tukadadoll]

I have spent most of my life involved in advertising and marketing, much of the time in similar campaigns to the one mentioned in the story. Some worked and some didn't.

I am not sure who TAT is marketing to with this campaign, or how it will take shape, so it is a bit difficult to have an opinion either way at this stage.

I did like the Amazing Thailand campaign but thought it was under-utilised by the industry as a whole. More attention needs to be given to fostering ownership of the campaign by the tourism industry.

In terms of a slogan "Miracle Thailand" does not make sense. "Miraculous Thailand" perhaps?

Anyway I am sure the actual pitch to the government was much more detailed than this news grab.

Edited August 29, 2011 by tukadadoll

[timekeeper]

Miracle Thailand: the place where nobody is too fat, old, ugly or smelly to have sex. Truly a miracle.

as someone who is fat, old, ugly and smelly, i have to agree...........

[EyesWideOpen]

I think that TAT needs a farang advisor. First off the word miracle is in essence a religious term, and it is absurd to use it in an advertising campaign. Second of all, I think the 8 billion baht would be better spent to stop scams, that would yield them much better results in the long term....

Edited August 29, 2011 by rhiekel

[lannarebirth]

What kind of miracles should we expect ?

the end of jet ski scams ?

the end of corruption ?

the end of dirty beaches or polluted water ?

the end of certain people's arrogance ?

For me Thailand will always be Amazing ....

"Amazing" is an often misused word and certainly an overused word, but it was the "mot juste" in describing Thailand. "Miracle" ? I don't think so.

[alant]

It will be a miracle if even half of the budget doesn't disappear into various pockets.