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New TAT research provides insights into five key European markets
Tourist arrivals to Thailand from the five European countries in the research study, 2010-2012:
Source: Immigration Bureau, Police Department
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has carried out a
broad-based consumer research study in five key European markets in order to
better understand how they perceive Thailand and what “buttons” need to be
pressed to maintain visitor flows.
The five markets are the United Kingdom, Germany, France,
Italy and the Netherlands. Together they comprised a total of 2,364,437
visitor arrivals in 2011, up 5.35 % over 2010. (See details in chart)
TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said, “We felt it was
time to refresh our own ideas and perceptions of what the new generation of
travelers think about Thailand and its desirability as a destination for
holidays, business or MICE events. Many things are changing these days,
including demographics, technologies and income levels. There is also
considerable competition from both new and emerging destinations.
“Although the European markets are generally doing well,
and we will maintain a strong marketing presence across Europe, this study
was designed to help us better target our future marketing efforts so that
we continue to target the right customers with the right product at the
right price at the right time. A more targeted approach will help us make
cost-effective use of our budgets in these challenging times,” the governor
said.
Focused on new customers from the five countries who have
never visited Thailand, the study showed that the awareness levels of
Thailand differed from country to country.
Said Suraphon, “The survey was designed to probe details
about their intentions to visit Thailand in future, competitive analysis
with other destinations, booking patterns, price sensitivity and other such
critical decision-making criteria. We found that we can no longer adopt a
common strategy across all countries. We need to adopt a specific strategy
for each country to reflect on the nature of the population, level of
awareness of Thailand, and the unique characteristics of each market.”
For example, it was found that more than half of the
survey respondents and interviewees from the United Kingdom, France and
Germany know Thailand reasonably well in terms of geographical location and
are aware of some of its iconic tourism products such as culture and
cuisine. On the other hand, the awareness levels were lower in Italy and
Netherlands, especially in terms of the tourism products.
In the UK market, it was found that the cost of travel
and Thai cultural heritage are important factors in the decision-making
process. Also word-of-mouth marketing was important.
In France, it was found that the awareness levels of
Thailand were high and that visitors had a greater propensity to make their
own bookings rather than use a travel agent. They also have longer booking
periods than the UK market.
In Germany, it was found that China was a more desirable
destination in Asia than Thailand. German travelers are also becoming more
inclined towards direct-bookings and often plan their trips six months in
advance.
In Italy, Thai tourism marketing campaigns will have to
focus more on awareness-building and use the travel agents to influence
consumer decision-making.
In the Netherlands, there was greater awareness of
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony. Hence, it was felt that Thailand needed to
stress its own beautiful beaches and the “Thainess” factor to attract
stopover traffic.
Said the Governor, “We learned a lot from the research
and will be happy to share it with our friends and partners in order to help
them improve their own marketing strategies for Thailand.” (TAT)
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TAT researches ways to sharpen “Thainess” campaign imagery
A broad-based destination image research study conducted
across 14 countries by the Tourism Authority of Thailand has provided clear
pointers on ways to sharpen the imagery and message of the country’s
upcoming “Thainess” tourism campaigns.
Approved at the TAT’s annual Action Plan meeting in July
2012, the “Thainess” campaigns will highlight unique selling propositions
such as Thai boxing, Thai cuisine, Thai health & wellness, Thai culture and
heritage and many other such characteristics of the country’s identity.
Thailand has a broad range of products in each of these
categories nationwide, and the TAT feels that they need to be given greater
prominence as part of the marketing mix.
As all the categories of the “Thainess” campaigns lend
themselves to powerful imagery, the research study was designed to identify
the “trigger points” that will convince the potential visitors to move from
“looking” to “booking.”
The countries included Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong
Kong, United States, United Arab Emirates, Australia, China, South Korea,
India, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Italy. A total sample of 3,000 were
surveyed including both those who were first time or repeat visitors.
The study used secondary and primary data and both
quantitative and qualitative surveys. Interviews conducted included a broad
cross-section of stakeholders, including Thais and foreigners, working both
in and out of the industry.
TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said, “The most
important factor in the advertising message always has been the quality of
the imagery. But with the many changes taking place these days, both the
content and means of delivery of those images had to be re-examined within
the context of our ‘Thainess’ campaign strategies.”
He noted that some target groups felt attracted by a
“story-telling” strategy. Others favored a more static approach or responded
to powerful images delivered via mobile devices. In all instances, the
response differed depending on such factors as gender, age, location and the
number of times the potential customers had visited Thailand.
“We found that some of the traditional perceptions of
Thailand were still strong, such as those related to fun, excitement, good
service, and hospitality,” Suraphon said. “This works well when trying to
attract the family market, for example. Other images may need to be
reinforced in other ways.”
He added, “Altogether, it has been an interesting and
challenging exercise. We became much more aware of how the world is changing
and the constant need to keep up with these changes in order to maintain
visitor flows.” (TAT)
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Measures reinforced to protect overseas visitors from fraudulent businesses
The Foreign Ministry has joined the Interior Ministry in
mulling measures to help protect overseas visitors from being taken
advantage of by crooked business operators.
Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul held a meeting
with Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Yongyoot Wichaidit on
Friday to discuss various measures to ensure the safety of foreign
travelers.
The meeting was joined by provincial governors from 10
tourist provinces, including Surat Thani, Phuket, Songkla, Krabi, Chiang
Mai, Chiang Rai, Chonburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Rayong and Trat, as well as
representatives from the Tourist Police Division, the Tourism Ministry and
the Department of Provincial Administration.
The discussion was initiated after numerous cases of
scams and attacks on overseas visitors emerged and made headlines during the
first half of this year, significantly hurting the tourism industry.
Surapong said that the meeting with all related agencies
was needed to ensure the safety of tourists, which was also raised during
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s recent overseas trips to various
countries.
Various ideas were brought up at the meeting, including
the installation of more CCTVs, the setting up of a central service center
with a hotline service, and police bicycle patrol units in tourist hot
spots.
The Foreign Minister said that there also will be a
meeting with executives of leading private hospitals in Thailand, after
there have been complaints from Middle Eastern patients about being
over-charged for treatment.
Meanwhile, Yongyoot stated that the government will ask
locals to play a role in providing safety and convenience for foreign
visitors, as the tourism industry is a key money-making business for
Thailand. He added that the government will hold more meetings with related
provincial governors on the issue later. (NNT)
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TAT launches Nakhonsi Awesome campaign to promote southern tourism
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has launched the
‘Nakhonsi Awesome Campaign’ to promote traveling in Nakhon Si Thammarat
Province.
The TAT is cooperating with the Nakhon Si Thammarat
Provincial Tourism in launching the campaign. The province has spent 21
million baht reviving its new tourism image to entice more Thai and foreign
travelers, especially those from Scandinavia, to holiday in the province.
The project is aimed at drawing in more tourists so that
the locals will have more income to support themselves and their families.
At the same time, the campaign is also expected to prepare the local people
for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which will be established in 2015.
Travelers in Nakhon Si Thammarat can experience various
types of places and activities ranging from paying respect to Buddha’s
relics, observing art and culture, hiking on mountain trails, visiting
waterfalls, to tasting many types of food. (NNT)
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Government speeds up measures to ease Suvarnabhumi congestion
Thailand’s air transport-related agencies are speeding up
measures to reduce congestion at the capital’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Civil
Aviation Department (CAD) Director-General Voradech Hanprasert said today.
Representatives from the department, Aeronautical Radio
of Thailand, Airports of Thailand (AoT), and other concerned parties met to
speed action on the issue, Voradech said.
Officially, the interagency report is proceeding through
Transport Minister Jarupong Ruangsuwan to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra
for prompt action.
One short-term measure to deal with the congestion
includes more staffing at airport immigration arrival and departure
channels, while Aeronautical Radio of Thailand is to increase air traffic
control flights from 55 to 68 per hour, starting today.
According to the meeting’s result, incentives to attract
airlines to use the airport from 2 - 5 a.m. should be implemented to ease
the congestion there.
Airport fees, as collected by AoT, for take-off and
landing, and for aircraft parking will be reduced 95 percent during such
period.
The Civil Aviation Department chief said the meeting
called on AoT to speed up using its passenger screening system to improve
passenger flow and reduce congestion at the airport, and asked for time
management to be improved in accordance with international standards for
both departing and arriving passengers.
Voradech said AoT must see passengers to the aircraft
within one hour, and release them from the airport to the city within 45
minutes.
Concerning long-term measures, Airports of Thailand is
asked to speed up Suvarnabhumi Airport’s expansion Phase II to support more
passengers in the future.
Some 54 million passengers are expected to use the
airport in 2017. (MCOT)
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