TAT turns to bloggers to lure young

TAT turns to bloggers to lure young

Tourists at Ban Tha Ma-O Community in Lampang, one of 22 destinations chosen for the contest. (Photo by Assawin Wongnorkaew)
Tourists at Ban Tha Ma-O Community in Lampang, one of 22 destinations chosen for the contest. (Photo by Assawin Wongnorkaew)

Some 44 bloggers from 17 countries are vying for a chance to promote Thailand as a preferred destination to millennial tourists worldwide.

The bloggers, shortlisted from 1,423 contestants in 86 countries, are aged 18-35 and must create travel stories for 22 villages across Thailand.

The campaign, called Thailand Village Academy, is hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Cultural Promotion Department, Thai Airways (THAI) and Thai Smile airline. It aims to improve the social and creative economy for local communities.

Thapanee Kiatphaibool, executive director for tourism products at TAT, said the campaign allows story curators with social media skills to create inspiring stories during their exploration of one of 22 designated communities.

These locations include Ban Lao Wiang Cultural Tourism Community in Uttaradit, Ban Phu Homestay in Mukdahan, the Sapphaya Old Police Station Market Community in Chai Nat, Ban Tha Ma-O Community in Lampang and Thung Wa Community in Satun.

The bloggers include 22 foreigners from Australia, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Italy, Israel, Nigeria, the Philippines, Peru, Russia, Singapore, Tunisia, UK and Ukraine. The rest are Thai contestants who joined the competition to visit the villages from July 24-29 for six days and five nights.

Cash and other prizes worth US$10,000 (308,905 baht) are on offer for winning participants.

Apart from the first batch of 22 villages, the TAT may choose more villages for the next campaign from the list of 3,000 communities set by the Community Development Department. Among of them, 33 communities have been developed and ready to welcome visitors.

The agency is also working on improving some 100 communities for the domestic tourism market.

Ms Thapanee said the TAT plans to assess the performance of these 133 communities, including income.

"One of the most outstanding communities is Ban Nong San in Sakon Nakhon province, which recorded a 200% increase in per capita income in 2018," she said.

She said the Thai Village Academy campaign provides new tourism destinations on a digital platform suited to independent travellers.

"These days, the number of independent travellers, especially millennials, is growing and they tend to rely on online platforms. It is vital to promote Thai tourism content via social media to reach these target groups," said Ms Thapanee.

The UN World Tourism Organization reports 370 million young tourists are expected to travel in 2020, said Preyanan Mongkolsri, digital marketing director at THAI.

She said these youths spend an average of 50 days travelling a year and the trend is on the rise.

THAI supported the campaign by providing air tickets to contestants.

Tassachon Thepgumpanat, an adviser at the Cultural Promotion Department, said the programme will connect the wisdom of each village to the digital world.

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (15)