The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has overhauled marketing plans to cope with a tourism slowdown and some flight reductions by Thai Airways International (THAI) in Europe.
Tanes Petsuwan, executive director for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said the European tourist market was slowing dramatically due to the continent's economic downturn.
The European slowdown has hurt the national flag carrier, which began cutting some loss-making routes from Europe.
In the first five months, European tourist arrivals fell by 13.3% year-on-year to 2.59 million, and the fall is expected to continue for the rest of the year.
For its marketing revamp, the TAT is collaborating with three Middle East airlines to help promote Thailand.
The three airlines are Etihad Airways, Emirate Airline and Gulf Air.
It began with a €1.6-million (61.8 million baht) marketing accord with Etihad Airways to help promote travel to the country in priority markets in the Middle East and second cities in Europe.
Among secondary cities in Europe are Duesseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Nuremburg in Germany along with Manchester, Venice, Geneva and some in Scandinavia.
"It's a win-win collaboration. We hope Etihad will help to bring tourists from other markets to Thailand. Moreover, the airline's attractive promotions will draw some European tourists back," Mr Tanes said.
He expects Scandinavian arrivals will fall further in the near future, as many are travelling to other destinations.
Tourist arrivals from Scandinavian countries plunged 6% to 301,703 in the first five months of this year.
In addition, flight cancellations by THAI will affect inbound tourism from Europe to Thailand. The airline has already cancelled two routes — Madrid and Moscow — in the first quarter and will cut Rome in October.
Juthaporn Rerngronasa, deputy governor for international marketing, said the TAT expected the collaboration with Etihad would bring at least 800,000 tourists from October 2015 to September 2016, up from 635,000 in the same period before.
To maintain its growth, the TAT should open new markets to attract more first-time visitors, she said. Repeat tourists from Europe account for 75% of all European travellers.
Apart from Etihad, the partnership with Emirates is expected to attract niche markets such as honeymoon, golf, and medical and wellness tourists. Gulf Air will penetrate new quality markets such as Oman and Jordan.
Mr Tanes said the TAT was moving from quantity to quality markets to meet the tourism revenue target of 1.4 trillion baht and 29 million tourist arrivals this year.
The TAT expects the clear segmentation will provide a clearer direction for Thai tourism. It believes the collaboration with selected airlines will bring quality tourists to Thailand.