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The Tourism Authority of Thailand is organizing roadshows in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and New Delhi on 23rd, 25th and 27th of March respectively. In Ahmedabad roadshow, TAT received very good response from travel and tourism industry. 19 Thai suppliers, representing a broad mix of hotels, tour operators, attractions, theme parks and health and wellness facilities from all around the country will be joining the roadshows. Thai suppliers will be meeting with more than 500 invited Indian agents from the three cities. The functions will include a presentation of the new products, a table-top forum for business discussions and a hosted dinner.
It is an effort to broaden the base of visitor arrivals and provide valuable exposure of Thai tourism products and services to new sources of business. With a potential base of roughly 300 million middle class consumers and a growing economy that has been largely unscathed by the global financial crisis, India has been identified as one of the key future source-markets for the Thai tourism industry. All of India’s major gateway cities, Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, are less than four hours flying time from Thailand. For many Indians venturing abroad, especially on their first foreign trip, Thailand offers tremendous value for money.
At the same time, Thailand is becoming increasingly popular among Indian honeymooners, for shooting of movies and advertising clips. There is also a strong flow of VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic and students. Indians also get visas on arrival at all international gateways in Thailand. An upcoming free trade agreement between India and both Thailand and ASEAN will significantly spur business travel and MICE business in future.
Indian visitors to Thailand totaled 482,925 in 2008, a decline of 4.60% in 2008 but the TAT is confident that with stepped up marketing measures, it can hit a target of 508,000, an increase of 5.19 per cent in 2009. In 2007, the average length of stay of Indian visitors was just under seven days and expenditure was US$ 136 per person per day.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
