Thailand: on the rebound

The Kingdom of Thailand is determined to recover its tourism industry despite financial handicaps. Roderick Eime reports from Bangkok’s Thai Travel Mart

Against an optimistic backdrop, the opening speech from Mr Tanes Petsuwan, Deputy Governor for International Marketing - Asia and the South Pacific, trumpeted Tourism Thailand’s (TAT) renewed effort to regain its enviable pre-pandemic (2019) international arrival figures of 40 million annually.

It is well known that Thailand relies heavily on tourism as a major proportion of GDP with figures quoted variously between 10 and 20 per cent and is a major driver of the Thai economy overall.

“Given the positive rebound in the tourism industry, the TTM Plus 2023 has received

considerable interest with the strong growth of participants when compared to those in 2022,“ said Mr Petsuwan, “This year, there are 374 buyers from all of the regions worldwide and 435 booths (up 60 per cent from 2022) of quality sellers from across the five regions in Thailand as well as the Greater Mekong Sub-region.”

According to TAT, the number of buyers is up 34 per cent from 2022, with more than one third being ‘first timers’. The breakup of the 374 buyers is also an accurate indication of where arrival numbers originate. Chinese, bursting back after their strict lockdowns, are far and away the leaders with 96 buyers, daylight second and then 40 from India. Russia, whose citizens - particularly military-aged men who are keen to take extended vacations wherever they can - also feature prominently. Malaysia and South Korea are also top runners. Australia still clings to the Top Ten with 24 buyers.

YTD, Thailand has received 213,000 visitors from Australia, with the expectation that the number will reach 600,000 by year’s end. Thailand anticipates a return to 100 per cent of 2019 volume by next year, 2024. According to DFAT, 800,000 was a fairly consistent annual (pre-Covid) figure for Australians travelling to Thailand.

Out on the vast Queen Sirikit National Convention Center floor, we ran into Ohm Ayutthya, a former TAT Sydney marketing officer, now an independent consultant and representative for Thai tourism properties who confirmed the need to boost Australian arrivals.

“My clients' properties are almost always full, “ Ayutthya remarked, “but we’re missing visitors from Australia even though our recent promotion with Qantas has been very promising.”

Ayutthya also pointed to the high cost of airfares impeding recovery while capacity closely follows the gradual rise in visitors. Currently, there are 40 direct flights from four airlines with 13,685 seats linking Australia and Thailand.

TravelTalk also sat down with TAT’s ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific executive director Miss Sukanya Sirikanjanakul who acknowledged “we need more from Australia”, a feat that may require a dash of superhuman effort given our own “cost-of-living crisis” and the fact that TAT’s Australian marketing budget has been slashed by some two thirds.

Nevertheless, TAT is pinning its hopes on a five-pronged campaign built around what has been dubbed ‘The Five Fs’: Fashion, Festival, Fight, Film and Food.

“There is a calendar full of Thai festivals we can promote in Australia,” said Miss Sirikanjanaku, “and we will encourage Australians to extend their stay and travel beyond the usual spots of Bangkok and Phuket to places like Ayutthaya and Kanchanaburi. [www.thailandfestival.org]

“The Thai New Year festival of Songkran is held in April and is our national ‘water fight’ day but is celebrated very differently across the various provinces.”

These ‘Five Fs’ are linked to the strategic goals of high value, sustainability, city marketing, all-year-round destinations and time as the new currency.

As such, sustainability and eco-friendly experiences feature high on the strategic list along with sport/leisure tourism like golf and scuba-diving.

“A framework for a ‘green star’ rating system is also being devised by the Ministry of Tourism & Sport, who will also oversee the training and accreditation criteria required for participation.”

One such initiative is the beach and ocean clean-ups regularly held at Khao Tao where locals and visitors take part in trash collection both on the land and under the water with volunteer (certified) divers offered free dive time.

Of course, attacking the problem at source rather than treating the symptoms will always be a more effective countermeasure to pollution. In this regard, Thailand still has a little way to go given the amount of single-use plastic like bags, straws, cups and bottles still evident in the waste stream.

A solid nod to LGBTQI+ tourism also featured among the strategies.

The Land of Smiles remains every bit the perennially welcoming and friendly kingdom, and is like the rest of the planet, finding its own way out of the pandemic-induced slump. Given the seemingly boundless enthusiasm and optimism of the Thais, they are more likely to make a rapid recovery than most. All they ask is that we Australians join them in their renewed prosperity.