THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand (TAT) is going all out with its efforts to woo the Latin America market, with plans to appoint a dedicated representative for the region next year, and a series of marketing initiatives due to begin this month.
According to Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT deputy governor of international marketing for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, the NTO is hoping to grow its Latin America market by 20 per cent annually this year and next, to compensate for an anticipated decline in arrivals from the US and Europe.
“The TAT Los Angeles office is now in the process of selecting/appointing a representative in Brazil (Rio de Janeiro/ São Paulo),” she said.
TAT’s aggressive push for Latin American visitors includes a first-ever participation at the Associação Brasileira de Agências de Viagens 2011 travel trade show in Brazil last month, where a 24m2 country booth featuring four Thai tour operators – Travex, Destination Asia, CBS Travel Asia and NCT Asia Tour – was on display.
This month, TAT will be partnering with Qatar Airways to bring in 20 travel experts and media representatives from Argentina and Brazil to attend the Chiang Mai Travel Forum (November 22-23) and the Phuket-Andaman Travel Market (November 25-26). TAT and Qatar Airways are also in talks for a similar cooperation ahead of Thailand Travel Market 2012, normally held in June.
According to Juthaporn, TAT is promoting Thailand in Latin America through Qatar Airways’ Buenos Aires-São Paulo-Doha-Phuket service, on top of direct flights to other South-east Asian destinations offered by carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.
Last year, Thailand recorded about 30,000 arrivals from Latin America, including 16,753 from Brazil and 9,936 from Argentina. In the first nine months of 2011, visitor numbers from Brazil grew to 17,000 – a 23 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, while visitor numbers from Argentina surged by 30 per cent to 9,500.
The average daily expenditure of visitors from Brazil and Argentina to Thailand is higher than those from Europe and the US, with similar average length of stay of about 10 days to two weeks. Brazilian visitors spend about 4,300 baht (US$140) per pax and Argentinians, 4,195 baht per pax. Europeans spend about 3,700 baht per pax and Americans, 4,200 baht per pax.
By Sirima Eamtako
