Thailand welcomed more than 1.4 million Indians to its shores in 2017, marking an 18% increase from the year before. India also ranks in top five list of highest number of visitors to Thailand after China, Malaysia, Korea and Laos.

Thailand saw more than 35.3 million international visitors in 2017 and earned THB (Thai Baht) 1.82 trillion in tourism revenue. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Mumbai showcased its new campaigns ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ and ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018′ at OTM 2018 held in Mumbai from 18th- 20th January 2018. Soraya Homchuen, Director, TAT, said, “We are initiating many unique activities and projects this year that will focus on promoting women, family and first time traveller segments for the Indian market. OTM is India’s largest and most international gathering of travel trade buyers and professionals, and most importantly it is conducted in Mumbai each year which is headquarters to almost all major outbound tour operators.”

Santi Chudintra, Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and the South Pacific), said, “The new campaign ‘Open to the New Shades of Thailand’ aims to give more attention to unique local experiences and inclusive tourism, reflecting Thainess and the Thai people’s warmth in welcoming visitors. Within this, there is a focus on specific customer segments; such as, gastronomy tourism, luxury, weddings and honeymoons, families, female travellers and Gen Y. Also the new campaign ‘Amazing Thailand Tourism Year 2018’ has been launched to support the government’s national tourism development plan, ensuring that Thailand remains a preferred destination and delivers a quality product; thus boosting the average length of stay, expenditure and repeat visit.”

The destination presentation showcased various new regions and provinces of Thailand that Indians should visit like Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khao Yai, Rayong, Ko Chang, and also highlighted various uber luxury experiences available in Thailand.

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Beginning a brand new initiative to ensure that the needs of the travellers are heard by the state government, the Thai Ministry for Tourism and Sports has developed a new regulatory body viz. Tourist Assistance Centres (TACs) for offering tourists a support system in case of natural or man-made eventualities.

The concept of TAC has been framed after detailed research and reasoning. For instance, during natural calamities the governments find it difficult to communicate with the innumerable travellers at different tourist spots of the country or city. If such situations strike in Thailand, TACs will act as a savior. It will make apt suggestions to the government bodies and assist the tourists on-ground.

The prominent functions of TACs are mentioned below:

• To suggest policies and standards for solving issues relating to fraudulent activities against travellers
• To establish the standards of safety and create an efficient preventive system to avert injuries while travelling
• To keep an eye on activities and follow-up plans at several at-risk tourist attractions

To build a better brand awareness, TACs will not only publicize and provide emergency notifications but will also manage and develop network systems that will assist the travellers. This regulatory body will co-ordinate with relevant agencies to impart assistance, convenience and troubleshoot issues with regards to fraud activities and inspect unusual situations that might hamper their safety.

Focusing on Indian travellers, the Director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), MS Soraya Homchuen, quoted:

“India being one of Thailand’s foremost markets, showing among the largest number of tourist arrivals annually, I expect that this news will be well-received. All destinations popular among Indian tourists will have a TAC. I expect this to be a great convenience to Indian travellers.”

A few TACs are already running successfully in multiple locations like Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Ubon Ratchatthani, Sukhothai, Kanchanaburi, Phuket, Krabi, Songkhla, Suratthani and Chonburi. The concerned authorities have attempted to make TACs as approachable as possible via e-mails, phone calls and social media websites. With such traveller-friendly developments, the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports aims to do everything in its power to satisfy the needs of the travellers. It will follow a prevention and cure strategy in reducing tourist woes.

In your opinion how impactful will this development be for Thailand’s travel and tourism industry?

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