TAT keeps its focus on Asean market amid uncertainty of Western economies
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THE Tourism Authority of Thailand will continue focusing on Asean markets out of fear of the continuing economic instability in Western economies.
“Travel from long-haul markets, especially Europe and the United States, plunged last year and is expected to stay slow this year, mainly due to their economic downturns. Asian markets, in fact, were in the same situation last year but now are bouncing back,” Pongsathorn Kessasamli, deputy TAT governor for marketing in Asia and the South Pacific, said yesterday.
Although the implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) was shifted to December, the agreement has already helped Thailand cash in on its advantages – not only its strategic location in the centre of the region but also some new talks on bilateral agreements.
The Thai tourism agency has already worked with Myanmar to launch a campaign tagged “Two kingdoms, one destination” to promote tourism from third countries.
Thailand and Cambodia have also introduced a similar campaign aimed at other regions. A pan-regional campaign is also lined up for this year to encourage people in the region to take their weekend holidays in Thailand thanks to the AEC, which is expected to increase traffic from neighbouring countries within three to four hours flying time.
“The government is positioning the tourism industry as one of the top economic priorities. It has introduced and enforced a series of measures and development for safety issues and clearing out illegal businesses to improve the experience of travellers while visiting the Kingdom,” Pongsathorn said.
The first 10 months of last year saw the number tourists from other Asean countries drop by 10 per cent to 5.3 million from the same period of 2013. TAT now targets a 13-per-cent improvement to 8.8 million this year, while income from the region is projected to rise 16 per cent to Bt225 billion.
Positive trends include better air accessibility. Qatar Airways boosted frequencies to Bangkok to four a day last month. Etihad Airways launched direct service from Abu Dhabi to Phuket in October. Air Astana inaugurated two flights a week from the capital of Kazakhstan to Bangkok last quarter.
Airports of Thailand, the operator of six international airports, will soon start expanding Suvarnabhumi Airport to accommodate 60 million passengers per year, up from 45 million.
Phuket International Airport will also be doubled in capacity to handle 12.5 million instead of only 6.5 million.
Last year, Thailand welcomed 24.7 million visitors – 6.6 per cent fewer than the previous year. Tourism revenue was Bt1.1 trillion. Asean helped the situation by sending 6.6 million visitors, or 26.7 per cent of the total market.
This year, the authority targets 28 million international visitors dropping Bt1.3 trillion into the economy, and 151 million trips from the domestic market contributing an estimated Bt800 billion.
Source markets that are coming on strong are mainland China, India, the Philippines, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, France, Italy, Britain, Brazil and Eastern Europe.
