Alliance takes aim at tourists
Thai Airways International and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) have launched the Star Alliance Visit Thailand campaign, which hopes to attract tourists, particularly from Japan, Germany and South Korea, back to the Kingdom.
The Bt15-million campaign specifically hopes to boost visitors to Andaman resorts such as Phuket and Krabi."The alliance is expected to attract seven million passengers, or a 20-per-cent increase from last year," said acting THAI president Somchainuk Engtrakul. He said southern tourism had been badly hit by the tsunami and other unexpected incidents but since then, THAI and the TAT had worked with hotels, agents and travel associations to boost low-season visitors. The campaign is influenced by recent successful promotions called Yokoso Japan - Visit Japan, which took visitor numbers to six million. Somchainuk said the wide range of initiatives on offer would include a special domestic air-pass offering a round trip for US$149 (Bt5,800). THAI is also running a Home Coming Day campaign to encourage Thais in the United States, UK and Australia to visit their homeland. "For THAI's advance booking for April, we already received a 76-per-cent load factor, up from 72 per cent in April last year," said Somchainuk. Visa International is offering a "Visa Passport" with special offers until the end of the year. Jaan Albrecht, Star Alliance chief executive, said: "[Thailand] has much to offer so we decided this campaign should capture tourists' hearts with spas, scenery, culture, shopping and cuisine." Suchat Sritama, The Nation
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