Thailand is a strong global tourism brand that is a “preferred tourist destination,” highly rated by many travel organizations as well as trade and consumer magazines. We consistently make a distinct and long-lasting positive impression on visitors. The Thai people touch the hearts of visitors with kindness, generosity, gracious, warm hospitality and friendly ways. It is this warmth and friendliness – an exceptionally endearing quality – that visitors remember most about our country and which makes them come back on repeat visits with family and friends – sometimes over several generations. They form a strong bond with Thailand.

This distinctive emotional appeal of the Thailand brand, and the compelling attraction of what it represents, enables our country to bring back visitors quickly whenever we face either international or domestic crises. This is why we have adopted the theme “Amazing Thailand: Always Amazes You.”

Mr Suraphon said, “Amazing Thailand is a wonderfully concise summary of what Thailand has to offer. We have extended the theme with "Always Amazes You" to reinforce that, no matter how often you visit the Kingdom, you will discover something new and wonderful each time.”

Thailand ended the year 2010 with a total of 15.9 million visitors, a 12.6 per cent increase over 2009. East Asia was the largest source market, followed by Europe, and South Asia. The top five markets of visitor arrivals are Malaysia, China, Japan, United Kingdom, and South Korea, while India became the sixth largest source market.

In January-July 2011, visitor arrivals totalled 11.2 million, up 26.5 per cent over the same period of 2010. TAT expects this consistent growth will continue for the rest of 2011. Given that there are no further global or local crises, there is a tendency that we will be able to reach 18.5 million visitors with expected income of 23 billion US dollars.

For 2012, we have set a target of 9 per cent tourism income growth over 2011, which should be around 25 billion US dollars with 19.5 million international visitors.

Our marketing strategies will emphasize on the following: strengthen and sharpen Thailand's brand image, capitalise on digital marketing, promote balanced tourism in various dimensions, ensure effective crisis response as well as penetrate the niche customer segments.