Berlin, 12 March 2019 – Thailand was voted the “Best Asia Destination” in the annual GoAsia Awards 2019 presented at the Internationale Tourismus Börse (ITB) 2019, the world’s leading travel trade show.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn (above photo, left), Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said, “We are indeed very proud that the influential readers and users of the reputed GoAsia website have voted us as the Best Asian Destination. We are humbled by their confidence. These awards will be a constant source of motivation for us to continue working hard to maintain this confidence in the years to come.”
Go Asia (www.goasia.de) is a B2B tourism platform run by tour operators. The Go Asia Awards 2019 are based on a comprehensive online survey among all registered users (sales representatives, travel agents, and tourists). This year, more than 3,000 people cast their votes for a total of 40 countries/destinations.
The Go Asia initiative was founded in 2003 in order to facilitate tourism marketing in German-speaking regions. Members get access to the Go Asia website, participation in exhibitions and trade fairs, media relations and training initiatives.
Thailand has always figured very highly on the awards list.
– In 2014, Thailand won the “Most Popular Tourist Destination in Asia” award.
– In 2010, Thailand won the “Best Asian Destination” award. The Tourism Authority of Thailand was voted the “Best Asian Tourist Board in Germany” award.
– In 2009, Thailand won the “Most Favoured Asian Destination” award. The Tourism Authority of Thailand was voted the “Best Asian Tourist Board in Germany” award. Prior to this, the Kingdom of Thailand had received the Go Asia Award for “Best Destination in Asia” for four consecutive years from 2005.
Germany is Thailand’s third largest source market from Europe, second only to the UK. In 2018, Thailand recorded 889,777 German visitors, up by 4.66% over 2017, generating an estimated 57.643 billion Baht, up by 8.30% in tourism revenue.
In 2018, Swiss visitors to Thailand totalled 207,596, (-0.92%), generating an estimated 17.508 billion Baht, (-1.10%) in tourism revenue. Austrian visitors to Thailand totalled 116,779, up by 11.45%, generating an estimated 9.096 billion Baht in tourism revenue, (+13.95%).
Ms. Denduen Luengcheng, Director of the TAT Frankfurt Office said that in the past few years, TAT has been stepping up its marketing activities in German secondary cities in order to attract more German visitors to destinations like Ko Chang in Trat and Khanom in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, as well as Chumphon and Ranong.
