The Tourism Authority of Thailand is setting up the Thailand Fan Club in Europe to help draw tourists from the region.
"TAT feels confident that the club will encourage tourists from Europe to return to Thailand this peak season," TAT governor Suraphon Svetasreni said yesterday.
More than 5,000 tourists from major source countries including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and Norway have joined the club, he said.
TAT's offices in London, Paris and Rome would help invite more participants.
The Thailand Fan Club of Europe is the first travel com?munity outside the coun?try, which TAT hopes would encourage more vacationers to travel to the Kingdom in the short term and also build awareness of Thailand in the long term.
European visitors are returning to Thailand after shunning the country during the few months of political problems since April.
However, many are going directly to Phuket and other destinations in the South, which is cutting the average length of stay in the capital, he said.
According to the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), tourists using its members have increased more than 20 per cent this month from a year ago.
TAT is also planning to establish similar clubs in other markets such as the Far East, Australia and United Sates, Suraphon added.
TAT has been working on a project called "Friends of Thailand" for years that can attract tourists from individual countries such as Japan, Korea and Germany.
Surapol Sritrakul, president of ATTA, said European tourists represented nearly 40 per cent of total arrivals of 14 million last year.
Many holidaymakers from the region are heading to other choices such as Bali, Vietnam, Singapore and China.
"Political unrest in Thailand became a key factor causing vis?itors to shift their plans to other countries," he said.
TAT should launch more proactive marketing and new promotions to reclaim tourists, he said.
"We are still facing a tough time, as our rivals have added new tourism products. However, if there's no political problem in our country, we should reach the tourism tar?get," he said.
Maiyarat Pheerayakoset, president of the Association of Domestic Travel, called on TAT to stimulate domestic tourism by promoting five routes across the country.