The local chapter of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) hosted a presentation attended by the Tourism Authority of Thailand executives in Bangkok on Monday and was reported in the Bangkok Post.

Professor Philip Pearce of James Cook University in Queensland presented to the Tourism Authority of Thailand executives and other local industry leaders.  Hopefully they listened to the professor and put his suggestions into action.

Sai Kaew Beach Koh Samet

It is good to see that someone actually understands tourism, catering to different markets, and today’s technology. Something that the Tourism Authority of Thailand needs to learn.

The first part of the article refers back to Thailand now being stabilized since the elections are over.  I don’t agree with this, especially if Yingluck Shinawatra is not confirmed by the Election Commission on Tuesday.  The article also mentions one million tourists coming from Russia – I believe the number is a fabrication.

However, the rest of the article gives some key points that the Tourism Authority of  Thailand can use to increase the amount of tourist arrivals and not have to fudge numbers.

Tech-savvy tourists are another emerging important market segment.

They are a bit behind the power curve on this one – tech savvy tourists have been coming to Thailand for a long time.  What needs to be done is to have the Communications Infrastructure upgraded to accommodate them.  We are still waiting (and waiting and waiting) for 3G while other countries have 4G and are making plans for 5G.  Wi-Fi is available in about 10% of the country.

Thailand’s hotels, tour operators and meetings companies need to move their marketing from the national level down to city, language or demographic niches if they want to be more successful in reaching tourists from India or Russia, say industry experts

Not just India and Russia. Every country.  Niche marketing is key to getting specific groups to Thailand.  But, the Tourism Authority of Thailand continues to spray the same old “Amazing Thailand” slogan and produces videos all in the Thai language.  Of the videos produced in English, they are the same old lame shots of temples, elephants and markets.  I have yet to see a Tourism Authority of Thailand video in Russian or Hindi (or Chinese, Japanese, German, French, etc).

Backpackers these days are just as likely to arrive on Khao San Road with a laptop, tablet or smartphone and they need to know they can stay connected, say travel experts.

Everyone needs to stay connected – not just backpackers.

Industry operators need to avoid the “sin of over-generalisation” and closely observe visitor behaviour in order to create rewarding travel experiences that visitors will talk about when they go home, said Prof Philip Pearce of James Cook University in Queensland.

Nope.  Not in Thailand – yet.  “Just fill out the 10 question survey, sir.”  Closely observing visitor behavior would require the Tourism Authority of Thailand to actually get out of their offices.  But, this is essential if they want to find out what tourists really want and what they really like.

“Listen to the stories they tell and don’t just rely on satisfaction indexes,” he said. “Successful marketing now requires the ability to provide an ‘experience economy’ that is in tune with generational changes, sustainability and new technology.

So, there would be some sort of undercover spy working for the Tourism Authority of Thailand eavesdropping at bars on Khao San Road.  This would be kind of hard to do.  You can’t ask the bar and restaurant owners what the tourists are talking about because most operators don’t speak but a few words of English and none of any other language besides Thai.

Prof Pearce said that “techpacker havens” were increasingly important – places where travellers, luxury or budget, can plug in social media devices, use large screens, hold Skype conversations with families back home, download music and service mobile and social devices.

High speed, wireless, and FREE.  This is what they want.

Here is a perfect example of not knowing your market:

Ravi Bhatia, director of Indian Host, an India-focused hospitality group in Bangkok, called for Thailand and India to “reconnect” their deep historical and cultural similarities.

“The number of Indian tourists visiting Thailand could easily double in two or three years,” he said.

However, Thais need to pay more attention to Indian culinary and wedding needs. “Tofu isn’t found in any Indian restaurant,” he said. “And don’t present vegetarian food to look or taste like meat – Indians will not choose it.

He recommended that Thailand concentrate on the Indian wedding market and having Bollywood films made on location in the country

This is what happens when you don’t do any market research and assume that all countries outside Thailand are the same.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand needs to find out the specific wants and needs of each individual country and the niches (golf, weddings, food, religion, etc) for each.

Andrey Snetkov, the contract and marketing manager of Pattaya-based TEZ Tour, which specialises in the Russian market, said 90% of trips to Thailand were still arranged by Russian travel agents as the online booking and credit card networks in Russia were still not trusted.

He lamented that many Russian travel agents lacked first-hand experience of Thailand so their recommendations to clients were frequently ill-informed. Familiarisation trips for travel agents are an important way to remedy this.

First, find out what the average Russian tourist wants to see, then, and only then, plan the familiarization tours. Most tours conducted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for agents are what the TAT wants them to see, not what the clients want to see.  If the Tourism Authority of Thailand would put out accurate information, accurate guide books,  accurate maps, then maybe the travel agents would have accurate information to give their clients.

Tags: bollywood food indian niche restaurant russian TAT tourism authority of thailand travel vegetarian weddings