Berlin, 11 March 2016, — The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is to strengthen its partnership with the Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) and Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI) to enhance the impact of the strategic marketing to promote Thailand as a “Quality Leisure Destination through Thainess.”
The delegation for the Thailand Networking Lunch organised at the ITB Berlin 2016, was led by H.E. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, together with the heads of three organisations, Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of TAT; Mr. Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, President of AOT, and Mr. Charamporn Jotikasthira, President of THAI.
The Networking Lunch, attended by 150 senior executives and representatives of the German and European travel trade and media as well as related Thai officials and private sector representatives, is one of the primary events organised at the ITB Berlin by the Thai contingent to outline new plans and strategies and network with buyers and operators.
H.E. Kobkarn said, “With the full support from the government and the integration in working among the public and private sectors, including the local authorities and communities, Thailand ended the year 2015 with great success. The Thai tourism industry hit the highest record in our history both in terms of revenue and number of tourist arrivals. Thailand received tourism revenue of 35.2 billion Euros from the international market with growth of 23% over 2014 and visitor arrivals totalling 29.8 million, up 20% over 2014.”
Mr. Yuthasak, Governor of TAT said, “Tourism does not consist of separate entities, but is a cooperation of key related organisations with the same goal. Thus, this cooperation among our three organisations will help strengthen the positioning of Thailand as a Quality Leisure Destination.
Mr. Nitinai, President of AOT said, “The upgraded capacity and readiness of the airports aim to better accommodate tourists with an impressive welcome to the country.
Mr. Charamporn, President of THAI said, “THAI aims to bring the world to Thailand and ASEAN with routing and network expansion, together with the expanding partners and alliances to draw visitors from Europe and the USA to Thailand.”
Mr. Yuthasak concluded, “Our three organisations would not be able to succeed alone. With the support from the related parties both in Thailand and overseas, we can move forward and enhance this joint success together as well as accomplish this goal to place Thailand among the travellers’ heart as a quality leisure destination.”
The European market is projected to be a key player in achieving the success of the plan to enhance the image of Thailand as a “Quality Leisure Destination through Thainess”. This means growing average visitor expenditure, average length of stay and repeat visitation.
This year, Thailand is targeting 60.6 Billion Euros (2.41 trillion Baht) in revenue. Of that total, 39.2 billion Euros (1.56 trillion Baht) will come from international markets and 21.36 billion Euros (0.85 trillion Baht) from domestic travel.
Germany is Thailand’s third highest source market from Europe. In 2015, Thailand welcomed 760,604 German visitors, an increase of 6.34% over 2014. This generated tourism income of 1.27 billion Euros (50.6 billion Baht), a growth of 8.04% over 2014.
In 2014, German visitors had an average length of stay of 17.5 days and daily expenditure per person of 94.4 Euros (3,756 Baht). This is one of the highest average lengths of stay of all nationalities, while the overall average length of stay in Thailand was 9.8 days.
This year, Thailand is targeting a 4.38% increase in tourism revenue from the Europe market as a whole, and a 3.87% growth from the German market specifically.
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