Here comes happy amazing Thailand

Tourism Authority of Thailand will rejig its Amazing Thailand tagline to take on board fun and happiness.
The new international advertising and promotions campaign will sign off with “Amazing Thailand Happiness Within”.
Having fun will be a key element in the way the TAT presents its messages believing it will restore visitor confidence and happy tourists are more likely to use social media to pass on recommendations.
While fun and happiness underscored the TAT’s governor’s annual marketing plan presentation, 7 July, the core element of driving tourism dollars was not overlooked.
Top travel industry executives were told at the presentation, that the country is targeting THB1.4 trillion in revenue from foreign tourists and THB800 billion from domestic tourists or an overall THB2.2 trillion.
The core challenge for TAT is to restore visitor confidence in Thailand and it hopes to do it by stressing traditional values contained in the concept of Thainess, while stressing sustainability and presenting a land of fun for visitors.
In its ‘state of tourism’ presentation, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Thawatchai Arunyik said: “In 2013, Thailand’s tourism revenue ranked sixth in the world and third in Asia according to the World Tourism Organisation. TAT is dedicated to make this ranking higher in 2015.”
The UNWTO presents its rankings based on the supplied revenue data from each member country. In the case of Thailand the Ministry of Tourism and Sports is responsible for collecting data on tourist arrivals, dollars spent and length of stay.

Thawatchai Arunyik
Apart from tourist arrivals, which are based on the country Immigration Bureau’s head count at international border checkpoints, all other data is based on estimates mainly derived from exit surveys carried out at airports by professional research firms.
Revenue estimates are at best ballpark figures based on what visitors claim to have spent during their stay in the country. In many instances the responses on spend are exaggerated during interviews and actual spend could be 15% to 20% below what visitors claim during a hurried interview in an airport’s departure hall.
However, the TAT governor insisted that the overall THB2.2 trillion target was a goal for the entire tourism industry to strive towards even if measuring it is problematic.
“We must walk together, grow together. We plan to step up cooperation with a broad network of partners both within Thailand and abroad to get people travelling to and within Thailand.”
“We aim to convey the “Thai Way of Happiness” and deliver the “fun factor” for which Thailand is very well known.”
TAT will organise international events starting in this October with a “Thailand Music Festival” titled, “Land of Fun”.
The title is likely to confuse serious music fans. TAT would have done better to clearly target a specific music segments or broaden the concept to include an ASEAN flavour to performances to add depth and appeal for foreign visitors beyond just local bands.
The New Year Countdown will also be tagged “Thailand Happiness Carnival”.
This will be in addition to the traditional fun and happiness celebrations that mark the Thai New Year in April when Songkran is celebrated with what the TAT calls “wet-and-fun gusto”.
The domestic travel marketing plan will target families, seniors and young people. Ten Thai cities have been categorised as “Must Visit Cities” in 2015. They have been chosen because each city has a special story that the Thai people should know about.
In order to iron out the peaks-and-troughs in travel, TAT will promote weekday travel mainly to students and seniors
On the international front, a new global tagline, “Amazing Thailand: Happiness Within” will be launched targetted at both first-time and repeat visitors.
“When tourists are happy, they will forward their messages. We will focus on building promotions around the concept of ‘forwarding messages’ in the online world. When visitors forward their messages, it will raise the awareness of Thailand and attract more future visitors,” said the TAT governor.
Mr Thawatchai concluded: “Next year’s targets are very challenging, but TAT believes that with good cooperation and professionalism from all sectors here, we can step forward to reach the target, based on a common vision and sense of purpose.”

Sourced: ttrweekly