Thailand plans to open a consulate-general office in Fukuoka this year to issue visas for Japanese people who want to visit the country for long stays, either for study, work or investing.
The opening of a new consulate-general office is expected to help shorten the time for document processing and visa approvals, easing congestion at the two existing offices in Tokyo and Osaka, said Pattaraanong Na Chiangmai, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Tokyo.
Japanese tourists are able to stay in Thailand without a visa for 30 days but can stay longer than that for other purposes.
Ms Pattaraanong said Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak will be in Japan this week and is set to sign agreements to draw Japanese investment to the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) and enhance tourism collaboration between the two countries.
The move could draw more investors and experts to work in EEC megaprojects, she said.
Ms Pattaraanong said Japan has been a top destination for Thai tourists for years and the increasing numbers of Thais visiting Japan have prompted airlines such as NokScoot and AirAsia to offer direct flights from Bangkok to major cities in Japan, following the removal of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) red flag on airlines registered in Thailand in October last year.
The withdrawal of IATA’s red flag has prompted airlines to penetrate Japan market, as well as other high-potential markets like China and South Korea.
“With more than 150 existing flights per week and over 40,000 seats between Thailand and Japan, this could create huge travel business and TAT hopes to take advantage from this,” she said.
Ms Pattaraanong said the TAT is also mapping out strategic plans to boost visits from Japanese people, focusing on women and younger demographics, athletes, divers and honeymooning couples.
This year, the TAT will continue to use popular Japanese girl group Nogizaka 46 as the tourism ambassador for a second year to help promote Thai tourism in Japan. The group has visited Bangkok, Phuket and Ayutthaya, shooting films at attractions and broadcasting clips on social media channels.
The move to work with celebrities is aimed at raising the portion of female tourists from Japan from 25% of total Japanese visitors (1.5 million in 2017) to 30% of the expected 1.6 million visitors this year.
Each year, 85% of visitors from Japan are male.
The Thai agency also plans to bring in more young Japanese tourists, especially university students, by holding a travel competition on Thailand. The event already drew more than 500 applicants and expects to get more participants.
“This activity is expected to boost awareness on Thailand’s tourism to 3 million young people in Japan,” Ms Pattaraanong said. “The winner of the competition will be awarded a package tour to Thailand.”
TAT offices in Japan are working on penetrating the wedding segment by promoting secondary provinces such as Sukhothai as new wedding venues.
One wedding fair from Japan could generate expenditure of up to 1 million baht, which is higher than the general tourist’s average spending of 50,000 baht per fair. The move on weddings is expected to draw about 400 couples to ring their wedding bells in Thailand this year.
Ms Pattaraanong said the TAT will take local marathon organisers to meet with organisers in Japan to promote marathon running in second-tier provinces in Thailand such as Ratchaburi, Sukhothai and Udon Thani.
Moreover, the agency will work on how to attract Japanese golfers to play in Thailand. There are 10 million golfers in Japan.
Ms Pattaraanong acknowledged several impediments to the plan to increase visitors from Japan, notably poor air access: international airlines have no connecting domestic flights to reach secondary cities. The result is that Japanese visitors flock to Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
Moreover, many Japanese still worry about the political climate in Thailand and the strong baht, with the latter resulting in higher travel expenses.