RISING air connections from China will help to further drive the Chinese market for Chiang Mai, particularly the FIT segment.
Air China will introduce a thrice-weekly Beijing-Chiang Mai service from November 7 using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. A month later, China Southern Airlines will commence daily flights between Guangzhou and Chiang Mai from December 1 on Airbus A319 aircraft. Juneyao Airlines already started four-times-weekly Shanghai (Pudong)-Chiang Mai services in April this year.
To capitalise on the rising tide of Chinese to the city, Chiang Mai-based Standard Tour will promote more FIT packages and Mandarin-led tours, and will appoint a new marketing representation in Guangzhou by this year-end. Similarly, plans to appoint a marketing representative in Shanghai and Beijing by next year are in the pipeline for Bangkok’s Discovery Holidays.
Prasit Itthipattanakul, general manager, inbound & transportation division at Standard Tour, said: “More scheduled flights are better than charters (in growing arrivals). This year, we’ve already seen a growth of more than 100 per cent from last year in Chinese inbound business to Chiang Mai. The Chinese inbound market is likely to stay strong next year, although we are awaiting to see any impact from the new Chinese tourism law.”
Wacharaporn Phiewkaow, managing director of Discovery Holidays, added: “These air links will boost FIT demand to Chiang Mai and help to grow the quality of Chinese travellers. Compared with groups, Chinese FITs tend to have better destination knowledge and higher expenditure levels, and are also more experienced travellers.
“Overall, we’re expecting 30-40 per cent increase in Chinese business to Thailand next year, with a forecasted growth of about 20 per cent for Chinese arrivals to Chiang Mai.”
Prasit pointed out that Chinese travellers to Chiang Mai are more likely to be FITs or repeat visitors to the country, as first-timers tend to visit Bangkok and/or Phuket.
