HONG Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is ramping up its marketing efforts to lure more visitors from Thailand, on the back of strong tourism figures from the kingdom.
Pote Sakuntalak, managing director of World Discovery Travel Network, HKTB’s representative in Thailand, said: “The number of Thai outbound travellers to Hong Kong has increased 10 per cent in the first five months of 2013, partly due to the strong Thai baht versus Hong Kong dollar in the earlier part of this year.”
According to HKTB statistics, Hong Kong recorded 501,759 Thai arrivals in 2012, a 4.4 per cent increase from 480,497 in 2011.
In Thailand, HKTB has intensified outreach efforts, such as jointly participating in consumer events this year with Shenzhen tourism authorities to promote multi-destination itineraries, according to Pote.
As the Thai outbound segment to Hong Kong has gradually evolved to produce more FITs, HKTB has also published more travel guides and materials in Thai to meet rising demand.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s hospitality players have locked on to this growing market. Said Andrew Chan, director of sales, Panda Hotel Hong Kong: “There is a 32.2 per cent increment from Thailand from July 2012 to June 2013. Malaysia is still the top South-east Asian market for us, but Thailand is becoming our (second-best) market.”
Having zeroed in on Thailand as its target market for 2013/2014, the hotel is anticipating another 10-15 per cent growth from the Thai market in the third quarter and 15-20 per cent in the last quarter of 2013, according to Chan.
Lilian Lui, director of sales and marketing of Kowloon Shangri-La, said: “Having (seen) the potential in South-east Asia including Thailand, we have revved up our marketing efforts in this region…We have seen promising growth of over 30 per cent in this market, depending on the travel season.”
However, increasing competition from other regional destinations may impinge on Thai travel demand for Hong Kong in the second half of 2013.
Noted Pote: “The Thai baht has since depreciated a bit, while Japan has waived visa requirements for Thais for short-term stays. While it is still too early to tell, I think Japan’s visa waiver is likely to have an impact (on demand for Hong Kong).”
