The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) met with SKAL and PATA on 19 May 2011.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand got together for a one-day, 20 million baht conference, conducted entirely in English, with SKAL (Sharing Talents, Knowledge, Aid to Others, Leadership Development) and PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association).

Tourism Authority of Thailand Suvarnabhumi

The Tourism Authority of Thailand announced this Mapping the Future meeting back on May 6th with a press release, but as of today, they have not announced anything on the outcome of the meeting.  Kind of gives me an indication that since the Tourism Authority of Thailand didn’t issue a press release, they got nothing out of the meeting.

Now, the SKAL folks in Bangkok posted copies of the briefings that were presented to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.  Lots of good subjects like Sustainable Tourism, Reputation Management, and Social Media that I am sure fell on the deaf ears of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

After all, TAT received a gold award from PATA for their Facebook Amazing Thailand page.  You know the one.  The one that the Tourism Authority of Thailand uses to post photos and text that they steal from others.

I am sure that the presentations were top notch with vital information and good information shared during brainstorming sessions.  But, will the Tourism Authority of Thailand put any of it to use?  I doubt it.  20 million baht down the drain.

What the Tourism Authority of Thailand should do is learn from China.

An article in the Bangkok Post today, titled China Launches Offensive, shows what China is doing for inbound and outbound tourism.  China is attacking tourism with military precision.

This was at the summit of the World Travel & Tourism Council in Las Vegas 15-17 May.  Wonder if TAT attended?

Last year, China received 55.66 million tourist arrivals, up by 9.4% over 2009. Foreign exchange earnings stood at US$45.8 billion, up by 15.5%. Domestic travellers rose by 10.6% to reach 2.1 billion and generated about $193.85 billion in revenue, up by 23.5%.

Outbound travellers reached 57.39 million, up by 20.4%. Total tourism revenue nationwide was $241.5 billion, up by 21.7%, Mr Zhu said.

How many of those 57.39 million outbound travelers went to Thailand?  The Tourism Authority of Thailand is missing out on a HUGE market.

Hmmm.  And China has about 4 times as many inbound tourists than Thailand has.  I wonder why?
Ahhh.  They have the backing of the Chinese government.

He noted that in 2009, the Chinese government had issued a report called Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Tourism which was designed to help decision makers “fully appreciate the importance of tourism to the national and regional economic and social development”.

The report makes it clear that the government should increase investment, provide stronger financial support, relax access to the tourism market, and encourage the participation of non-government capital. This has provided a favourable macro economic policy and industrial environment for investment in tourism, Mr Zhu said.

Good to see a government that actually knows what it is doing.

This is what China is doing right that the Tourism Authority of Thailand isn’t:

We will combine tourism with culture, sports, countryside development and other fields to expand the reach of tourism. We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the primary industry of agriculture, forestry, husbandry and fishery, with focus put on the development of rural tourism.

“We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the secondary industry and drive forward manufacturing of tourism facilities. We will promote the integrated development of tourism and the tertiary industry, in particular the modern service industry, and actively develop new business forms of tourism.”

How much emphasis does the Tourism Authority of Thailand place on tourism to Isaan – Thailand‘s rural tourism area?  Hardly any at all.  They are too busy marketing special packages in-country to the Bangkokians.

Only time will tell if the Tourism Authority of Thailand will put forth any of the proposals from the “Mapping the Future” conference or follow China’s lead and do tourism the right way.

And China actually looks to the future:

China also sees sustained, long-term market demand for leisure products such as sea, lake, hot spring and forest, as well as manufacturing of tourist commodities and tourism-related shopping. New opportunities include new tourism products targetted at the the medium- and high-end market such as self-driving, yacht, cruise, golf, animation and IT applications, he said.

Unlike the Tourism Authority of Thailand who only focuses on total arrivals and doesn’t know how to market to the high-end tourist.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to http://www.tatnews.org/tat_release/detail.asp?id=5451.

Tags: china pata skal TAT tourism authority of thailand