Above: A view of Bangkok from the St. Regis.
With the flood crisis receding, the Thai Hotel Association (THA) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have teamed up with over 100 hotels to offer attractive discounts to visitors. The nationwide campaign, set to kick off on December 15 and run for a month, aims to boost arrival numbers by showing visitors that the country’s tourism industry is once again open for business.
The participating hotels will offer “buy one get one free” deals to woo back tourists, and TAT’s 26 worldwide offices will help to spread the word about the campaign. THA president Prakit Chinamourphong said that even though global, the initiative will focus on short-haul markets such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.
THA estimates this year’s nationwide occupancy rate at 65%, down from an earlier projection of 70%, but still an improvement on last year’s 53%. Prakit said he hopes that the new campaign will increase visitor numbers to Thailand by approximately 30%.
The scheme will run alongside the marketing campaign “Beautiful Thailand” launched by TAT on November 28. Working in cooperation with media worldwide, the initiative aims to highlight Thailand’s hospitality.
The association is also planning to invite 300 international travel media to Thailand in December to show them that most of the country’s infrastructure remains intact.
