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SINGAPORE: The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) presented its 2023 theme "Visit Thailand Year 2023:" at the India ExpoMart in Greater Noida last month's South Asia Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE). Incredible New Chapters.
A reception with the title "A Million Thanks:" was held by TAT just before the trade show. Amazing Thailand Night Reception" in New Delhi to express appreciation to the Indian travel industry for helping to promote Thailand as a popular tourist destination.
Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Lead representative, said "India is and has forever been a critical and essential the travel industry market for Thailand. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our Indian industry partners for contributing to the positive image of Thailand as a popular tourist destination."
After Malaysia, India was Thailand's second-largest source of tourists in 2022. Out of a total of over 11 million visitors from other countries, almost a million Indians went to Thailand last year.
As of February 7, this year, Thailand had gotten 2.58 million unfamiliar guests, of which 122,303 were from India.
TAT praised India's decision to eliminate COVID testing requirements for travelers arriving from Thailand on or after February 13, stating that this would help Thailand's tourism industry recover. It then reduced the number of Indian arrivals it expected to 1.4 million to up to 2 million.
Tourism associations in popular Thai destinations like Phuket also praised the removal of the testing requirement.
The president of the Phuket Tourist Association, ThanethTantipiriyakij, was quoted by The Bangkok Post as saying that the COVID-19 testing requirements in India were lifted earlier than anticipated, which should help Phuket because large tour groups will soon return. He went on to say that large Indian tour groups, such as wedding parties and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions) groups, were impacted by the testing requirement.
The average amount of time Indian tourists spend in the "land of smiles" is longer than the average, and they spend approximately USD1,000 per person on each trip. As a result, the Thai tourism authorities are interested in Indian tourists. They are also very excited about the potential rise in Indian tourists because of the country's rising wealth and rising middle class, which has led to an increase in the number of Indian tourists traveling abroad.
Thailand has become a very popular destination for Indians over the years because it offers beautiful, clean beaches, nature preserves, rustic countryside and hillside towns, fascinating cities with stunning temples, delectable food, exciting nightlife, and high-quality lodging at very reasonable prices.
Citing a survey conducted in 2021 by the British travel company Thomas Cook, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) asserts that India ranked Thailand among the top three most desired destinations. The UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and the Maldives were the other two.
According to data from Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports, almost 2 million Indians traveled to Thailand in 2019, making them the third most popular group of foreign visitors. In 2018, Indians accounted for the sixth largest group of foreign visitors. It is an enormous leap from 2008 when 537,000 visited and Indian appearances were positioned eleventh.
Thailand sent a large delegation to the SATTE expo, consisting of over forty suppliers from the tourism industry, to emphasize its focus on the Indian tourism market. Thailand had participated in the expo for 14 years, making this the 40th edition.
The TAT stand, where visitors could participate in fascinating workshops and demonstrations on making traditional Thai arts and crafts using Nora beads and traditional Thai potpourri, was a major draw for the Thailand presence at SATTE 2023.
Thai Airways International, THAI Smile Airways, hotels, tour operators, destination management companies (DMCs), attractions, the Association of Thai Travel Agents, and the Phuket Tourist Association were among the Thai businesses at the show.
Promotion of sports tourism was one of the TAT's SATTE 2023 marketing initiatives. A strategy known as "City Marketing" was used to promote golf tourism in particular. In keeping with this, Pattaya City had a special booth at the show to show off the many sports tourism opportunities, attractions, and tourism-related businesses in the popular seaside town.
On February 10, TAT and Pattaya City jointly hosted a "Golf and Exclusive Networking" event at Delhi Golf Club in New Delhi to increase awareness of Pattaya as a golfing destination among Indian golfers.
"SATTE 2023 is a key marketplace for TAT and Thai tourism suppliers to meet with our overseas partners, to showcase Thailand's complete reopening to tourism and to promote the kingdom's direction towards high value and sustainable tourism, including our soft-power foundations, to offer a meaningful travel experience," Mr. Yuthasak, the governor of TAT, stated.
