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Thailand: TAT keen to bring back Malaysians
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) wants to revive Malaysia as a source market this year with a new campaign called “Open to the New Shades”.
Some 3.35 million Malaysians visited Thailand in 2017, down from 3.49 million the year before.
Income from this market was 87.1 billion baht, down from 88.6 billion in 2016.
The Bank of Thailand’s Southern Regional Office said one of the factors behind the drop was the depreciation of the ringgit, which reduced Malaysian travel to southern Thailand last year.
Tanes Petsuwan, TAT deputy governor for marketing communications, said Malaysia remains one of the top-performing markets for Thai tourism.
He said the tourism campaign will introduce new products to visitors and possibly reveal a mascot for well-known destinations.
Mr Tanes said Malaysia has direct flights to eight Thai cities: Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Pattaya (via U-tapao airport), Phuket, Krabi, Surat Thani, Koh Samui and Hat Yai.
From May 18, Air Asia will operate a direct route from Kuala Lumpur to Hua Hin four times a week.
According to TAT figures, overall repeat visitors to Thailand comprised a solid 59% of the total in 2016, with average daily spending of 5,440 baht and average length of stay of 4.8 days.
The ratio of groups to those travelling independently was 41:59.
For the Malaysian market, the top five tourism activities were eating Thai food (85%), spa and wellness treatments (51%), historical sites (40%), nightlife (37%) and beaches (22%).
As such, the new national tourism campaign will be customised to accommodate every single target segment and market, Mr Tanes said.
The TAT will direct Malaysians to food, nature, beaches and local arts, he said.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tourism-and-transport/1461134/tat-keen-to-bring-back-malaysians