Tag Archives: TAT

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) offices in Mumbai and Delhi took its the fourth edition of its B2B event ‘Luxurious Pleasure’ to four cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. First held in 2013, Thailand’s ‘Luxurious Pleasure’ roadshow series is an addition to its staple annual roadshow and focuses on high-end holidays such as holidays on private islands and helicopter rides. Explaining Thailand’s focus on luxury, Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand – Mumbai, said, “Our two-city initiative is now a four-city show with Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad now in the fray. We have noticed visible changes in buying behavior. This includes a growth in the number if travellers opting for five-star hotels and villas and a good response to market promotions with prices in the range of Rs 80,000 to Rs 150,000 for a week-long holiday. Today about 25 per cent of the Indian market is checking into luxury hotels and above (villas, private islands and yachts) and this is up from barely 10 per cent when TAT first launched its campaign to target the luxury segment. It is about strategy, sustainability and streamlining the industry with quality as a focus.” Thailand welcomed 1.06 million Indian travellers in 2015 and expects to cross 1.1 million in 2016, having hit over 700,000 Indian arrivals by August already. Homchuen added that TAT wants to grow high-end’s share of the pie by another five per cent. A change in the ratio of men: women travellers is also part of the goal. “Women comprise 23 per cent of the market currently and for this year we would like to bring this up to 30-35 per cent,” she said.

A total of 79 buyers from India have registered till date for the 15th Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Subregion to be held for the first time in the northern Thai capital of Chiang Mai between June 8-10, 2016. This is currently the highest number and is projected to grow further before the registration deadline ends on March 15, 2016. Opened for the first time to ASEAN national tourism organisations, the event had registered 321 buyers of whom 142 were first timers, and 305 exhibitors of whom 72 were first timers, as of February 11 surpassing the last edition’s count of 258 sellers and 49 first-timers recorded in March 2015. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Dr. Yuthasak Supasorn commented, “Such a large turnout of both buyers and sellers will help us meet one of the most important criteria cited by both sides in their feedback forms, which is to meet new people.” TAT is expecting 400 buyers from 50 countries.