Bangkok still a favourite for Indian tourists, despite recent protests

Bangkok is still rated as one of the most compelling Asian destinations for globetrotting Indian tourists despite recent waves of anti-government protests.

According to Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, director of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the country's tourism industry has kicked into recovery mode since the end of the political turmoil of April-May, which left around 90 people dead.

The latest TAT figures reveal that Thailand received 6,563,099 visitors from January to May this year, registering a 16.07 percent year-on-year growth.

Ayudhya said that 277,393 tourists from India visited Thailand during this period, however he admits that the protests hit the capital when Indian tourist arrivals were at their peak.

"India is among the primary short haul markets for us and we value Indian travellers. Yes, the tension surely came in when the Indian market holiday season was getting to its peak, but the positive side was that there were many repeat visitors who travelled to Thailand anyway by avoiding Bangkok and heading straight for our regional holiday spots," said Ayudhya.

Sanjay Varma, director, Senator Travels Pvt Ltd, told IANS: "Disturbances take place everywhere, but everything comes back to normalcy soon. People take precaution for 10-15 days and after that they go with the flow and forget such incidents.

"Yes, there was a bit of pull down but to tell you from my personal experience, there was the wedding of a friend's daughter in Bangkok during the protests and only the venue was changed from one hotel to another. Everything else went off peacefully. So people were visiting."

Ayudhya said a large portion of the recovery effort will be focussed towards the B2B (business-to-business) platform for a mutual interface between Thailand's travel trade and the Indian trade.

This focus will result in new deals and packages for travellers with value additions including discounts, late check-outs and complimentary kids' meals.

"As the national tourist organisation, our immediate focus will be to work in joint cooperation with tour operators, airlines and tourist businesses to devise effective marketing strategy customised to respond to the demands of our global markets to tactically attract travellers," Ayudhya said.

Hospitality groups such as Amari will offer exclusive discount packages to entice more consumers.

Guests at Amari Watergate in Bangkok, can opt for a minimum of two nights/three days at Rs.16,735 which also includes breakfast and dinner, besides welcome dinner.

As an extra incentive kids can also eat free with their parents as part of this package.