Thailand plans strong presence at Russian travel fair

 

About 39 Thai representatives from hotels and resorts, tour operators and travel agents, spa, and travel related operators from Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin, Samui, Krabi, Bangkok and etc will join the fair during September 17-20. 

“The Russian market is growing in leaps and bounds, with a strong per capita expenditure and long average length of stay. It is a very resilient source market but also a highly seasonal one. One of our objectives at the MATW this year will be to try and balance this seasonality factor and encourage more visitors in the summer months, rather than the just the winters,” said Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Suraphon Svetasreni.

According to the tourism agency, visitors from Russia to Thailand have been growing steadily over the past few years. In 2006, Russian visitor arrivals totalled 187,658. By 2012, this number had surged to 1.31 million. Russia is now the largest source market from Europe, and one of the six countries generating more than one million annual visitor arrivals.

In the first eight months of this year, Russian visitor arrivals totalled 1,061,626 up by 36.72 per cent over the same period in 2012. For the full year of 2013, TAT has projected 1.67 million Russian visitors will visit the country, up 27.8 per cent over 2012.

During the fair, TAT will promote the “Amazing Thailand: Always Amazes You” campaign.

Thailand’s pavilion has been redesigned to reflect a more contemporary look under the theme of “Amazing Thailand: Always Amazes You” but also retain plenty of space to facilitate business discussions. A tourism information counter will be staffed to help those looking for brochures and publications on the various Thai attractions and special tourism activities. Live demonstrations at the Thai pavilion will include umbrella painting, Thai boxing, and a health and wellness zone to provide basic medical checkups and a quick neck massage.