Tourism and Sports Minister Suvit Yodmani yesterday said Japan had long been one of Thailand's most important tourism markets. Before the tsunami on December 26, 2004, the Japanese tourists visiting the country numbered about 1 million per year.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) predicts a return to that level as a result of activities this year marking the 120th anniversary of Thai-Japanese relations.

The TAT has held seminars in Japan aimed at enticing tourists back to Thailand.

Despite the effort, Japanese visitors were down 7 per cent in January, February and March. The decrease is lower than the 10-15 per cent drop predicted by the Thai Travel Agents' Association, which saw the baht/yen exchange rate as an obstacle to increased Japanese visitors.

Suvit said his ministry and the TAT would add more strategies to their campaign in Japan, including a focus on the more than 6 million retired Japanese living in the country's major cities. Two new tourism products will be employed to make Thailand more attractive: long-stay holidays and medical treatment.

Meanwhile, tourism authorities plan to attend a travel mart in the Middle East in hopes of attracting "high end" tourists, and Suvit says tourist arrivals from the new market of Russia are growing.

As well as promoting Thailand in international markets, tourism authorities are also planning to encourage locals and expats to travel within the country.

Tomorrow, the ministry will announce the Kingdom's overall tourism performance in the first six months of the current fiscal year (September to March).

Suchat Sritama

The Nation