On December 26th, the National Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) held a welcome dinner for the delegation from China at the Siam Museum in Bangkok. The campaign aims to showcase and promote Thailand's positive tourism image, boost tourist confidence and stimulate travel during the New Year's Day 2024 period through the concept of "soft power" and "meaningful journeys".
Sudawan Wangsuphakitkoson, Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, and Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Director General of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, attended the event and delivered speeches, as well as many tourism partners and guests from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Thailand's Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan, said that the Thai government welcomes Chinese media and travel bloggers to visit Thailand. China has always been a major source market for Thai tourism and has great potential. Since January 1 this year, as of December 20, 3.35 million Chinese tourists have entered Thailand for tourism, and the number of Chinese tourists is expected to reach 3.5 million by the end of this year. The Thai government attaches great importance to the promotion of high-quality Thai tourism in the Chinese market, and is also committed to launching more emerging tourist destinations, aiming to use soft power to create meaningful trips for tourists, and strive to improve tourism safety and security measures, take care of Chinese tourists in all aspects, so that tourists can have new gains every time they visit Thailand, so as to stimulate the potential of tourism development, enhance Thailand's tourism image, and promote Thailand to become a must-visit tourist destination in the minds of tourists.
Thapani, director of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, said that the "Magical Thailand Exclusive Tour" campaign is part of a strategy to promote a positive image of Thai tourism, aiming to give Chinese tourists confidence in visiting Thailand during the year-end holiday and even throughout 2024. From December 21 to 28, 2023, a total of 93 well-known media and travel bloggers from 5 offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Kunming organized and invited a total of 93 well-known media and travel bloggers to Thailand to inspect emerging tourism routes in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chonburi, Pattaya, Chanthaburi, Hua Hin, Phang Nga and Koh Mart Trat and produce travel guides, highlighting tourism safety, high-quality tourism, meaningful trips and the promotion of Thailand's soft power.
During the event, the Tourism Bureau of Thailand also arranged a special event of "Exclusive Tour" for the media delegation, leading the media experts and travel bloggers to fully experience the charm of Thai culture, visiting the Queen Sirikit Thai Museum at dusk, visiting the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, followed by a tuk-tuk to enjoy the cityscape of Bangkok's Rattana Koksin Peninsula, and finally attending the "Picnic in the Backyard of the Museum" theme celebration at the Siam Museum, the Minister of Tourism and Sports of Thailand attended the welcome dinner and thanked the media delegation.
At the welcome party, the Thai Tourism Bureau not only arranged Thai folk song and dance performances from different periods, but also prepared a variety of Thai delicacies for the media and travel bloggers to taste: such as the famous Thai fried noodles "Patai", mango sticky rice and seafood dishes recommended by Michelin Bib Gourmand, various street foods such as longan coconut milk lotus seed soup, Thai papaya salad "Songdang", mini fritters, lotus petal noodles, zongye sweet paste and so on. At the party, well-known Thai artists Cai Youfu (Da Wu) and Zheng Naixin sang on stage. In addition, there will be more fun activities for guests to experience: Segway, Divana Aromatherapy Thai Massage, Good Luck Lottery, Christmas Tree Lucky Draw and more. The prizes for this event are provided by various partners of the Thai Tourism Authority, including airasia and Nok Air tickets from Thai AirAsia, shopping vouchers from Central Group, Thann wellness aromatherapy products, travel discount coupons from Trip.com (Ctrip), etc.
In addition to working with various partners to promote foreign tourists, the Tourism Authority will also strengthen the promotion of the concept of "Thai Always Care" in order to increase tourists' confidence in visiting Thailand and create a good image of Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand will continue to keep up to date with tourism information on various social media, including information on tourist attractions in Thailand and interesting festivals, promote various travel safety measures, add various convenient services for tourists, and work with well-known media experts and travel bloggers to create more excellent travel tips, tell the story of Thailand, promote the beauty of Thailand, and create more inspiration for Chinese tourists to travel to Thailand.
Written by: Nandu reporter Xu Kun
Xi Jiang Tinghan