Can Thailand Tourism Rebound After Political Unrest?

PHOTO: Bangkok’s Centara Grand hosted some 1,200 members of National Olympic Committees from around the world for their annual General Assembly. (photo courtesy Tourism Authority of Thailand)

With the demonstrations over in Thailand and the news cycle focused elsewhere, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is priming the tourism pump on several fronts. The Thai tourism juggernaut had surpassed 24 million arrivals in 2013 making it one of the UNWTO’s top 10 destinations.

Optimists were predicting 28 million arrivals. Then came the demonstrations and the subsequent suspension of democratically elected government. This year, international tourist arrivals to Thailand between January and August reached 15.7 million. Tourism in the kingdom remains off track and the TAT is involved on several fronts trying to get it back on track by highlighting new destinations, new promotions and stimulating new niches.

On the promotional front a new TV ad campaign is running through November with smarTours in Los Angeles and Friendly Planet in New York. The 30 second commercials (78 in LA and 80 in NY on CBS and NBC) are designed to drive visitors to both the operators and a dedicated website (www.Na.TourismThailand.org).

Culture, people and Thai life-style are being used to “paint a vivid picture of Thailand as a truly special place where travelers can experience first-hand our culture, beauty and, of course, the Thai people themselves,” said Srimala Waraphaskul, director of TAT’s New York office.”

Television is also being leveraged in a new season of Anthony Bourdain’s ‘The Getaway’ on the Esquire Network. This season will follow model and food blogger Chrissy Teigen through Bangkok, where she learns the art of Thai boxing and samples Thai food while seeing the sights of the Thai capital. The TAT has also upgraded its Amazing Thailand mobile app. The new app allows smartphone users to get the latest information such as tour and hotel deals.

Regional Promotion

In Southeast Asia and in Thailand itself, the TAT is promoting through its Dream Destinations platform highlighting the country’s flowers.

“Last year’s inauguration of the Dream Destinations campaign was a success,” said TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik. “For this year, we continue the project with a new highlight – flowers.”

The TAT coordinated the best 22 best places to experience the beauty of Thai flowers by season and region. The TAT’s new ‘ASEAN to Thailand’ project targets travelers in short-haul markets that are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The ASEAN countries are moving towards economic integration under the ASEAN Economic Community framework, which will come into effect in 2015, making Southeast Asia a single market with a free flow of products, services, investment and labor.

New Regional Promotions

Thailand has been investing in roads in the country’s Northeastern states. The TAT hopes to raise international awareness of the region, highlighting its melting pot of art and culture, religious places, and archaeological and paleontological sites. It’s also a component in any land travel that would connect Bangkok to the borders of Laos and Cambodia.

“Isan,” as the region is known in Thailand, has a different ethnic culture as well as archeological sites and even Southeast Asia’s largest dinosaur excavation and paleontological sites. It’s also home to many sites sacred to Buddhists including such temples as Phra That where Buddha relics are kept. Isan is home to distinctive mat-mee silk, which is tie-dyed to produce geometric patterns on the thread, pakama or a versatile length of cloth that can be used for basically anything from being a headwear to a hammock. Isan also has a host of natural wonders; such as, Phu Kradueng in Loei, Sam Pan Bok or the Grand Canyon of Thailand in Ubon Ratchathani, Red Lotus Lake in Udon Thani and many national parks.

Another region that is boosting its profile is Lampang Province, home to Chiang Mai in the Northwest of Thailand, in the famous Golden Triangle. The ‘Lampang Brand’ project will be introduced to instill the idea that Lampang is the City of Lanna Culture. People are already familiar with Chiang Mai, but neighboring provinces and the region as a whole have much to offer. The ties to Lanna culture offers something quite distinct from the rest of Thailand and since the Lanna, was located between Siam and Burma, the province serves as an overland gateway into Myanmar.

Sports and Meetings

Just last week (Nov. 5 to 8), Bangkok’s Centara Grand hosted some 1,200 members of National Olympic Committees from around the world for their annual General Assembly. The TAT sees the meeting as a major opportunity to revive the meetings and conference sector, which took a beating during the demonstrations. Tourism and Sports Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, characterized the conference as “a prime example of the linkage between tourism and sports, especially the Olympics which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to host destinations and has a worldwide TV viewership in the millions.”

That perspective may explain the TAT’s September talks with Paris-based Amaury Sport Organization, the main agency organizing the annual Tour de France, for the possibility of staging the Tour de France, in Thailand in 2015. The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race, primarily held in France. By playing host to a world famous cycling race as the Tour de France, we are saying that Thailand is ready to host any international sporting events of all types and sizes,” said Thawatchai.

There are 204 National Olympic Committees in five countries; a vast majority of the delegates to these meetings are involved in MICE business in their countries making this meeting a potential adrenalin shot for Bangkok. Kobkarn said, “Sports and tourism are now becoming increasingly inter-linked. Thailand has hosted numerous important sports events over the years, especially the Asian Games.”

In September the TAT attended the Seatrade Med Cruise Convention in Barcelona as part of a strategy to upgrade Thailand’s image in the global cruise market. Thailand has four major ports — Phuket, Samui, Laem Chabang and Bangkok. The TAT also plans to participate in the Cruise Convention in Singapore (Nov. 17 to 19).