Arya News - Thailand`s new tourism strategy is shifting from prioritising visitor volume to a quality-first approach focused on safety, sustainability, and creating value.
BANGKOK – Thailand wants to be judged not by how many visitors it welcomes but by the value they take home and the value tourism creates for communities and the economy, the head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said.
Speaking on the CNN Global Perspectives panel “Vantage Point”, presented by TAT, Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool outlined a values-led strategy built on safety, sustainability, extraordinary experiences and what she called Thai-ness.
She was in conversation with Anita Mendiratta, Special Adviser to the UN Tourism Secretary-General.
A “surgery” for tourism DNA
Thapanee said Thailand’s tourism “DNA” needs “a little bit of surgery” to become what she called “SEXY”, a play on words used to summarise the new approach.
The first element is safety and sustainability. Valued customers, she said, need confidence when they travel to Thailand, and that depends on both.
The second is extraordinary experience, which she said is meant for far more than leisure travellers. It is for visitors of every kind, including investors, business people, students, and those drawn by health, wellness and sport.
The governor said Thailand’s charm should be presented as something visitors must taste, try, buy, seek and see, as the country has shown at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok.