-
More Indians travelling abroad indicates a direct opportunity - Four Thai destinations make it to India’s top 20 favoured
- Thailand takes no 2 spot among outbound destinations
- Opportunity to pursue luxury segment with nearly 20% Indians spending INR 10,000+ per night
- Thailand’s beaches, rainforests and rolling landscapes will find takers as the “outdoors” is proven India’s favourite when travelling
Mumbai, 10 October 2014: The Tourism Authority of Thailand has in the last year set out to attract nature lovers, luxury seekers and culture enthusiasts besides expanding its traditional segments of package-tourists, groups of bachelors, families, incentive groups and of course, honeymooners. The tourism board has also set its sights on a larger pie of destination weddings and big-screen and mall-screen shoots.
TripAdvisor’s recently released study indicates that Thailand is well on track to attaining its goals. Ms Soraya Homchuen, director, TAT Mumbai said “With 21% more Indians planning outbound holidays before the end of the year and most of these preferring short haul destinations I think Thailand will be a logical choice especially since it ranks second in order of preference among Indian travellers.” Thailand is keen to boost numbers during its peak season that begins around Diwali and these statistics are a positive sign.
“Bangkok, Phuket, Patong and Pattaya took four (that’s one-fifth, or 20%) of the 20 top spots in terms of favourite destinations. This indicates that Indians have visited these destinations a number of times – many of them will now look beyond and we are seeing a gradual traction for other destinations in Thailand such as Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the north and also Koh Chang, Koh Kood, Koh Lanta and Hua Hin among beach destinations. Cultural strongholds like Ayutthaya and Sukhothai are also becoming popular,” Ms Homchuen continued.
She added that she is even more optimistic about Thailand’s pursuit of the Indian luxury-seeker after the survey results. “With numbers in excess of a million Indian travellers, we see great opportunity in the fact that 1.08% Indians opt for hotels with room rates in excess of Rs 35,000. That’s nearly 11,000 people in this segment according to current inbound statistics from this market,” she explained. Thailand is hosting a B2B initiative called A Luxury Showcase in Bangalore and Ahmedabad to educate and gear travel agents to sell Thailand to India’s high spenders. “I’m sure that these statistics will whet the enthusiasm of our Thai partners visiting India to network and ink deals,” she added.
What’s most encouraging is the fact that with nearly 25% Indians preferring outdoorsy activities on their holidays abroad, Thailand’s pristine beaches, quaint riversides, breathtaking rainforests and postcard-like plains make for an attractive proposition. In terms of Thailand-specific preferences over 20% are lovers of the Kingdom’s outdoors. “This is in line with our strategy to attract all sorts of nature lovers – from those who want adventurous activities like scuba-diving, rock-climbing, zip-lining, paragliding and sky-diving to those who want to get in sync with nature through wildlife encounters and conservation. Thailand has an astounding number of national parks and scenic routes for people to enjoy the outdoors,” Ms Homchuen said.