TATclaims 'Discover Thainess' plan can help it meet revenue target of Bt2.3 trillion for 2016
THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) says it will make every effort to hit its tourism revenue target of Bt2.3 trillion for fiscal year 2016, with the help of the "Discover Thainess" strategy.
Santi Chudintra, deputy TAT governor for policy and planning, said that the authority, which was in the process of formulating its marketing plans, had to meet the revenue target announced by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha during his declaration of the fiscal 2016 budget act to the National Legislative Assembly.
Santi said he was confident that in the current fiscal year, tourism revenue would reach the Bt2.2-trillion target, given increases in the number of tourists every quarter so far. Forward booking jumped 20 per cent in the second quarter of this year despite it being low season.
In 2016, TAT will continue its focus on quality rather than quantity tourism, and will stimulate spending per tourist. Three or four years ago, the agency adopted this target and has seen a 10-per-cent rise in average spending per tourist.
"Discover Thainess" will be used to stimulate tourism consistently, after starting to realise results in local and overseas markets, with a push for higher spending per traveller.
Santi said this concept started a few years ago, and TAT laid out its 2013-14 marketing plan under the goal "Higher Revenue through Thainess", planning to get tourists to understand Thai ways of living in depth.
Other concepts for 2016 include more emphasis on women, especially those who like to spend a lot of money when they visit a foreign country. For example, Hong Kong women, whether they are regular workers or high-ranking executives, are interested in fashion and other shopping activities.
