Central Pattana Plc, the operator of Central shopping malls, has allocated about 1 billion baht a year to enhance services and facilities dedicated specifically to foreign shoppers with high spending power.
The move is to offset stagnant local purchasing power.
Of the total budget, about 500 million baht is allotted to Central Phuket, scheduled to open next month, with the remaining 500 million dedicated to Central malls in tourist destinations across the country such as Pattaya, CentralWorld in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, said Wallaya Chirathivat, the company's deputy chief executive.
Ms Wallaya said the budget will go to activities created for tourists such as special executive lounges with personal services, special promotions, limousine service and public relations.
Initially, the services and facilities will be made available at Central Phuket, a luxury retail complex, before gradually expanding to other branches.
"The company is focusing on tourists because their spending power is about three times higher than local shoppers," she said.
"The number of foreign tourists amounts to more than 30 million a year. For Phuket alone, arrivals are expected to reach 20 million over the next few years."
Phuket welcomed about 9 million tourists in 2017.
Ms Wallaya said the number of foreign shoppers who visit Central malls increases every year. Some 30-50% of visitors at each Central mall are foreign tourists, she said.
Apart from facilities, the company recently set up a new department called Tourist Marketing to handle all marketing activities related to foreign tourists, including sales promotions and tourist incentives and tourist data. The company is sending teams to China to promote Central Shopping complexes, particularly Central Phuket.
Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, CPN's executive vice-president, said the company has allocated a budget of 3 billion baht to tap into the tourism market with the launch of Tribhum, a 3D virtual adventure, at Central Phuket in November this year and Aquaris, an aquarium with over 25,000 creatures in the first quarter next year.
With the tourism marketing plan, CPN aims to cash in on rich Asian millennials from China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. They are of working age and are likely to have rapid growth in income.
Asian millennials account for 60% of millennials in the world.
There are about 70 million millennials in the world aged 20-35, and many of them are willing to spend money on travel and purchase a different lifestyle experience, according to the US Census.
Three groups are considered trend leaders for world tourism for the next few years -- European travellers who are heavy spenders such as those from Russia, Germany and the UK; business people earning a high income who enjoy premium lodging; and independent travellers.
CPN reported revenue in the second quarter of this year rose 23% from the same quarter last year to 9.4 billion baht, with net profit up by 15% to 2.93 billion baht.
Revenue in the first half of this year rose 14.9% over the same period last year to 17.6 billion baht with net profit rising by 9.4% to 5.75 billion baht.
CPN shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 82.5 baht, down 50 satang, in trade worth 445 million baht.