After the Tourism Authority of Thailand travelled to Saudi Arabia in a roadshow last month, the TAT has now brought its tourism campaign to Europe. From May 23-25, the TAT travelled to 3 European countries to promote its campaign “Visit Thailand Year 2022: Amazing New Chapters”. The campaign promotes medical tourism, beaches, and shopping in Thailand.
In the European roadshow, the TAT visited The Netherlands, Belgium and France. The visit came in light of Thailand easing several travel restrictions. The TAT used the roadshow to explore new opportunities for Thai tourism businesses and airlines to build relationships with tour operators, travel agents, and destination management companies in these countries.
In Amsterdam, Thailand’s Ambassador to The Netherlands made a speech, and 13 Thai tourism businesses chatted with 48 tour operators and travel agents from Amsterdam and nearby cities. In Paris, 12 Thai tourism businesses met with 63 tour operators and travel agents from Paris. In Ghent, 12 Thai tourism businesses met with 60 tour operators and travel agents from Ghent and nearby cities.
All 3 of the European countries the TAT visited are important sources of visitors to Thailand. In 2019, 230,000 Dutch tourists, 713,405 French tourists, and 114,016 Belgian tourists visited Thailand.
Thailand’s tourism ranking the Travel and Tourism Development Index recently dropped down a notch from 35th place in 2021, to 36th place this year. This is out of 117 countries. The president of the Thai Hotels Association, Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, said that Thailand’s problems with safety and security have been hurting the country’s reputation for many years.
We’ll see if the TAT’s roadshows can redeem Thailand’s tourism reputation in the world.
SOURCE: TAT Newsroom