The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to form a partnership with leading football clubs in Brazil to emblazon the Amazing Thailand logo on Brazilian footballers' jerseys.
Amazing Thailand logo
The flagship project of the TAT will take place some time next year with the aim of building greater recognition of Thai tourism in Brazil, said Kittipong Prapattong, director of the TAT's Los Angeles office.
Discussions with football teams including Sao Paulo FC are under way and will be finalised for the project to run next year, he said.
According to Mr Kittipong, Brazil is considered a potential Latin American market for first-time visitors to Thailand, as well as other segments such as luxury and LGBT tourists.
He said football is deeply rooted in the heart and soul of Brazilians and Sao Paulo FC is the third-best-supported club in Brazil with more than 16 million fans. So it will be an efficient way to use sports marketing by having the Amazing Thailand logo on football players' jerseys to create brand awareness among football fans.
Having ads around stadiums and bringing key footballers to visit Thailand are also in the works, he said.
Mr Kittipong joined several directors of TAT overseas offices to share their insights during a panel discussion at TATAP 2020 (Tourism Authority of Thailand Action Plan 2020) this week in Bangkok.
The forum allowed stakeholders such as tourism operators and hoteliers to learn the latest trends of markets abroad and help draw foreign travellers to achieve the target of 42 million visitors next year for 2.43 trillion baht in tourism income.
For the US market, Mr Kittipong noted that the millennial generation is one of the important targets with strong growth. There will be at least 4 millennials out of 10 American tourists, making it vital for the TAT to use the right influencers and platforms to attract the group.
To draw US millennial tourists, the TAT has created a travel documentary titled The Local Traveller in Thailand featuring millennial female traveller Libby Vincek, a contestant from the popular US reality show Survivor: Ghost Island, as the host.
The documentary features her journey to discover the new shades of Thailand during three weeks of local experiences from the North to the South, namely Mae Hong Son, Sakon Nakhon and Chumphon. The documentary began streaming on Amazon Prime last week and will be available on iTunes next month.
There is also a partnership with Neiman Marcus luxury department store chain to attract more high-end tourists, said Charinya Kiatlapnachai, director of the TAT's New York office.
Puangpen Klanwari, director of the TAT's Toronto office, said Canada is quite a new market with potential for first-time visitors. Most Canadians prefer to travel to long-haul destinations with at least two stopovers.
The TAT has partnered with Cathay Pacific since 2018 to offer two destinations, namely Thailand and Hong Kong, in one trip for Canadians.