THAI lures foreign travellers with incentives
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Thai Airways International is offering big incentives in key overseas markets in a bid to attract more passengers during the upcoming peak tourist season.
The national carrier’s biggest promotion of the year, “Luck is in the Air”, was launched in August.
The campaign focused on the domestic market after the airline suffered a big drop in passengers following the military coup in May.
The campaign has now been extended to overseas markets. It starts today and will run till the end of January or maybe through the entire first quarter of next year.
One of the big incentives is aimed at the Japanese market, with a heavily discounted round trip for two people travelling at the same time. The Bt32,000 all-inclusive fare is available for people travelling before January 15.
“THAI has never offered such a low price for Japan,” said Wiwat Piyawiroj, the carrier’s vice president for sales and distribution Thailand and Indochina.
“Normally the ticket is no less than Bt40,000 during peak season, but this is what we’re offering to lure tourists back to the country.”
Wiwat said that the airline was also promoting its Airbus A380, which was utilised on the Thailand-Japan route. THAI currently flies to five cities in Japan for a total of 12 flights per day.
According to Wiwat, the airline hopes to attract passengers away from low-cost airlines such as Thai Airasia X and Jet Star.
For domestic market, he said the campaign would be extended for another month until the end of November.
In that time, the airline plans to stage two marketing events. The first will be in Khon Kaen this month and the second will be in Pattaya in November.
“We expect the campaign will boost domestic sales by 1-3 per cent in August and December this year,” he said.
Passengers who buy a round trip domestically or internationally from the carrier or its subsidiary THAI Smile Airways this month will have the chance to participate the Luck is in the Air lucky draw.
The biggest prize is worth Bt1 million and the winner can use the ticket to travel to any destination aboard THAI or THAI Smile Airways within one year.
