Butterbear, one of the country’s most popular mascots, will be introduced as a new presenter for Thai tourism next month, aiming to lure at least 10% of 1 million Chinese fans to follow tourism activities in Thailand.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is aiming to attract 8 million arrivals this year from a Chinese outbound market estimated to reach 130 million. Almost 11 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2019.
Nithee Sriprae, deputy governor of marketing communications at the TAT, said the campaign with the latest internet sensation — Butterbear — is aimed at creating travel motivation, as the bear draws thousands of new fans each week.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin last week took to social media to praise the home-grown Butterbear as an inspirational figure that could entice people to travel.
Every weekend, local and international tourists flock to the Butterbear store to watch the bear’s dancing show and queue for photographs with the mascot at the EmSphere shopping mall in Bangkok.
The queues reportedly start as early as 4.30am as devoted fans want to have their picture taken with Butterbear during the photo activity period, which starts at 2pm. Butterbear was recently invited by the luxury brand Gucci to visit its exhibition.
Mr Nithee said the promotional campaign with Butterbear would last for 3-6 months, starting in August.
The agency will start filming productions, taking Butterbear to famous tourism spots and taking part in activities, such as shopping and dining, visiting the Temple of Dawn and Song Wat, the old trading quarter, which was recently listed among the 40 coolest neighbourhoods in the world by Time Out magazine.
Along with promo videos, the agency will encourage Butterbear to engage in activities by offering promotions and lucky draws.
The TAT hopes the campaign can reach 20% of Butterbear’s fanbase, both in Thailand and overseas.
The campaign with Butterbear will also respond to a Chinese market trend in which female tourists accounted for 69% of customised outbound tours in 2023.
Earlier this month, the agency launched the Chinese art toy mascot Labubu as another tourism promoter with the goal to sell at least 20,000 tour packages to Labubu’s fans in China.
As soon as the partnership with Pop Mart — the official merchandiser of Labubu — was announced in June, netizens started urging the TAT to consider picking up Butterbear as well.
In the year to July 15, Thailand welcomed 3.7 million Chinese travellers. The target of 8 million is still within reach if high-season demand at the end of the year is very strong.
The TAT says there is still a chance to draw more Chinese visitors if seat capacity increases, particularly from the western part of the mainland, where it says the majority of outbound tourists from Sichuan (26%), Chongqing (25%) and Shaanxi (33%) have indicated a preference to visit Thailand this year.
