The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) reports that international tourist arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the first four months of the year increased by 2.61 per cent compared to same period last year.
According to the authority, 3.4 million visitors arrived, up from 3.3 million in the first four months of last year.
However, the number of Asian visitors, which represents 49 per cent of the total number of arrivals, fell 6.6 per cent to 1.5 million.
Japanese arrivals fell 4.7 per cent from 402,998 to 384,043, China’s 250,998 visitors for the period reflects a 22.5-per-cent drop from 2006’s 323,878, but the number of South Korean visitors grew 4.1 per cent from 283,140 to 294,751.
TAT governor Phornsiri Manoharn said European markets had been showing strong growth, especially Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia and Scandinavia. Arrivals from the overall European market climbed 12.94 per cent from 987,005 to 1,114,770 during the four-month period.
In order to attract international tourists to the country, the TAT plans to spend Bt20 million on TV ads overseas.
Phornsiri said the five-minute advertising slots would be shown this July to present “Amazing Thailand”.
With a limited budget, the TAT will shift from events to advertising campaigns, which reach a larger market.
Phornsiri said TAT’s Beijing office expected its TV adverts to reach 45 million viewers in key cities including Kunming, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang.
The office is also planning to attract more charter flights from China and will organise a South China road show in August.
In Japan, the TAT is in partnership with key telecom company NTT DoCoMo to promote Thailand though an SMS campaign potentially reaching 20 million mobile-phone users. Winners of an SMS Thailand quiz will get prizes including trips to the Kingdom.
TAT’s Tokyo office is planning to run TV adverts on five city trains from June to December, with an expected audience of 10 million.
Source: The Nation
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