TAT Expands Presence in the Middle East To Promote Thailand

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) strengthens its presence and promotes Thailand as the favorite tourist destination among Middle East travelers.  This is the result of recent participation in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2022 and recent collaborations with Almosafer – one of the county’s three major online travel agencies, and Qatar Airways.

TAT headed a Thai delegation consisting of 18 hotels, 3 hospitals, 2 travel agencies, and 1 theme park to the ATM 2022, hosted in Dubai, UAE, from May 9-12, 2022. Over the course of the 4-day event, each member of the Thai delegation had an average of 128 business engagements, totaling over 3,000 meetings. This is anticipated to increase tourism from the Middle East to Thailand and produce around 1 billion Baht in tourism income for this year.

 “Interest in returning to Thailand is increasing. This is undoubtedly an indication that the market is recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailand concentrates on conducting business with the higher market segment, including families, medical treatment, and the growing sector of women traveling alone for beauty treatments, shopping, and other related activities.”

– Mr. Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor for International Marketing

At the ATM 2022, TAT collaborated with Qatar Airways to offer a unique sales campaign designed to increase travel to Thailand from May to June. The two sides were also discussing a worldwide campaign to persuade Europeans to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup from November 21 to December 18 to go to Thailand after the tournament. This partnership agreement is anticipated to be inked in October.

During the ATM 2022, TAT launched a tourism marketing campaign collaborating with Esaad Card or Dubai Police Privilege Card, a loyalty program for Dubai Police government personnel. 240,000 Esaad members will get special discounts on products and services at over 300 places in Thailand, mostly hotels, hospitals, spas, department shops, and tourist attractions.

Tourism Authority of Thailand and Almosafer – the leading online travel agency in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and one of the 3 major online travel agencies in the Middle East and Northern Africa signed a memorandum of cooperation or MOC.

The agreement signed between the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Almosafer aims to increase tourism between Thailand and the Gulf Cooperation Council or GCC countries. The primary objective is to promote and create high-quality tourist experiences in Thailand for GCC tourists, emphasizing important specialty sectors such as sports, luxury, and health and wellness.

The memorandum of cooperation between TAT and Almosafer was signed when Saudi Arabia resumed allowing its citizens to travel to Thailand on March 9, 2022. Since then, Almosafer has seen a significant increase in Saudi Arabia’s interest in traveling to Thailand.

Before the pandemic, there are approximately 533,000 travelers from the Middle East visited Thailand annually, producing over 41.3 billion Baht in tourism income.

SOURCE: Travel Daily News Asia

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