Marketing 'Amazing Thailand' globally

Using its existing ‘Amazing Thailand’ theme, with the added tag line, ‘Always amazes you’, the TAT aims to attract 15.5 million international tourists in 2011 and generate Bt600 billion (US$18.5 billion).

The TAT started the tourism drive with the ‘Hug Thailand’ campaign early this month. The 60-second TVC encouraged Thais to heal the country by resuming domestic travel. To attract foreign tourists, the Government has waived visa fees until March 2011 and offered free insurance for all travellers. In addition, most hotels have launched special packages and promotions.

Sadly for Thailand, it is not the first time that its tourism sector has taken a battering, having weathered challenges posed by the Asian economic crisis, the 2004 tsunami, an army coup, and airport closures. Most recently, last Sunday a bomb exploded in central Bangkok injuring nine people and leading some to fear further troubles surrounding Thailand’s Parliamentary elections.

Nonetheless, Mark Ingrouille, Asia-Pacific business director of Publicis Worldwide believes that the reason Thailand has got serious about tourism is because the Government wants to make the industry a pillar of the economy. “The truth is that tourism is a relatively small contributor to the national income, less than five per cent of the GDP,” he says. “To make tourism a more important sector in the economy Thailand will need to attract more affluent people.”

In 2009, the TAT shifted policy to promote ‘Quality tourism’ to achieve increased yield and expenditure per visitor. But ‘Quality visitors’, who are more likely to spend money and stay longer in the country, come from Europe, where pictures of the recent violence have caused a huge setback to Thailand’s image as a desirable tourist destination. To build trust among European travellers, Thailand needs to be able to show a stable political situation.

“A concerted effort to engage with all the different target groups, each with a distinct and relevant message,  is essential to get visitor numbers rising again,” says Tony Prehn CEO, Thailand, Lowe Worldwide.

To do this, the TAT is focusing on activities that are popular with Asian visitors, such as shopping and golf. It is promoting adventure tourism to young travellers through social media and introducing the “Go green, go Thailand” initiative for the environmentally-conscious. But unless the country’s political rivals can come to agreement, the TAT’s campaigns may be little more than window dressing.

This article was originally published in the 29 July 2010 issue of Media.