Bangkok, 23 August, 2017 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently extended a warm welcome to a group of Japanese students from Koge’s Elementary School in Fukuoka, Japan, who are visiting the Kingdom on an educational and cultural exchange programme, from 19-25 August, 2017.
Mrs. Somrak Kumputch, TAT’s Deputy Governor for Administration said, “This is part of the annual exchange programme between Koge’s Elementary School and the Chulalongkorn University Demonstration School. Each year, the Japanese students will be taking part in educational exchanges and will be experiencing the Thai culture and way of life by staying in homestay accommodation in Thailand.”
This year, the group from Koge’s Elementary School comprises 32 participants, including Koge Mayor, Mr. Tsubone, 19 students and 14 teachers. Their itinerary includes an educational tour of Thailand’s main landmarks including the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha (Wat Pho) and Siam Paragon in Bangkok, and Sampran Riverside in Nakhon Pathom.
Mrs. Somrak said, “At TAT, we consider Japanese students as niche, quality tourists that have high potential to be developed into repeat visitors for Thailand. Each year, we work closely with local tour companies as well as educational institutions in Japan to introduce several tourism activities for the students including educational trips and cultural exchange programmes to boost this special market segment to Thailand.”
Thailand welcomed 1.4 million visitors from Japan in 2016, representing a 4.59 per cent increase over the previous year. Japanese students constitute about an 8 per cent of all visitors from Japan to Thailand.