Tourism Authority of Thailand opens Toronto office

Tourism Authority of Thailand opens Toronto office

New outpost aims to capture a greater share of Asia-bound tourists

Diners at Pai, a celebrated Thai restaurant in Toronto.
Diners at Pai, a celebrated Thai restaurant in Toronto.

The opening of the 28th overseas Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Toronto is set to spur visits from Canadians, who are some of the top spenders among international tourists.

The TAT held the official opening of the office, its third in the Americas, last Monday, adding to the two existing offices in New York and Los Angeles.

The new office is aimed at increasing Canadian visitors from 238,000 last year to 500,000 within the next few years.

In 2017, Thailand welcomed more than a million visitors from the US for the first time. The TAT is confident that the number of visitors from the Americas will continue to rise, said governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

Canadian tourists stay 18 days on average in Thailand and spend 80,000 baht per person per trip. Canadians generated 80 billion baht in tourism income last year, which is expected to increase by 8-10% this year.

Mr Yuthasak said the TAT will target three tourist groups from Canada: free independent travellers, LGBT and millennials. Societal acceptance in Thailand will be a selling point for potential tourists.

The agency will also promote Thailand as a film shooting location.

"With Amazing Thailand's 'Open to the New Shades' campaign, the TAT will also encourage tourists to visit secondary destinations across the country," Mr Yuthasak said.

He cautioned against several threats that could impede Canadian tourists, including a stronger baht, global political issues and the lack of direct flights to Thailand.

The four-month closure of the popular Maya Bay at Koh Phi Phi and strong tourism promotions in Mediterranean countries are other factors of concern.

Although there are no direct flights from Canada to Thailand, the TAT is working with airlines such as Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, Emirates, Qatar, Korean Air and Air Canada to promote travel through the airlines' hubs.

The TAT hopes that the Toronto office will help the agency better compete and capture a greater share of Canadian visitors to Asian countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Malaysia.

Last year, 763,000 Canadian tourists visited China, followed by 370,000 to Hong Kong, 305,000 to Japan and 176,000 to South Korea.

Foreign travellers contribute massively to Thailand's tourism industry, with about 1.8 trillion baht income in 2017 from some 37 million tourists. The agency expects 38 million international visitors and 2 trillion baht in revenue this year.

Domestic tourism is expected to contribute about 1 trillion baht in income this year, up from 950 billion baht last year.

Alibaba to corral tourists

According to Mr Yuthasak, the TAT is in the process of entering a partnership with Alibaba, as well as its online travel subsidiary Fliggy.com, to develop an online platform promoting small Thai tourism operators and emerging destinations to Chinese travellers.

The Chinese multinational e-commerce giant signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the TAT on March 19.

Alibaba, through its subsidiary Zhejiang Fliggy Network Technology, pledged to help create a platform for facilitating travel bookings and room reservations for Chinese tourists.

"We will partner to develop tourism marketing activities through online platforms and connect with Alibaba's other marketing channels to develop big data for the Thai tourism industry," Mr Yuthasak said.

The collaboration will increase the competitiveness of small and medium-sized tourism companies in terms of new development of products and services that will increase the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Thailand, he said.

The platform is expected to cover the complete digital experience for Thai tourism, from the visa process to the tourism tax refund service that could be offered to Chinese travellers via Alibaba's online payment gateway, Alipay.

The move is expected to help increase both the number of Chinese arrivals and tourism revenue generated from the visits.

In 2017, Thailand had 9.8 million Chinese arrivals, an increase of about 12% on the previous year. Chinese visitors contributed tourism revenue of more than 52 billion baht during the year, up 15.8% from 2016.

Culinary lure

Nuit Regular, executive chef and co-owner of Thai restaurants such as Pai Northern Thai Kitchen, Sabai, Sukho Thai and the newly opened Kiin in Toronto, said that "with the opening of the TAT office in Toronto, I will help pursue and encourage tourists to visit Thailand by providing travel information to clients".

Her restaurants have won awards for Best Thai Restaurant (Pai) and Best New Restaurant (Kiin). She is also the first Thai Select Ambassador for Canada and has been recognised by the Thai government for the authenticity of her Thai cooking and was awarded the prestigious Thai Select Premium designation for her restaurants.

Chef Nuit and her husband, Jeff, have transformed the Thai food scene in Toronto through the distinct flavour of Northern Thai cuisine and hospitality.

It all began when she opened a small food restaurant, Curry Shack, in Pai, Mae Hong Son province.

She made the decision to leave her career as a nurse so that she could share her passion and life experiences through family recipes, street market dishes and authentic Thai cuisine in Canada.

Her restaurants generated a combined profit of 10 million baht last year; 3.7 million baht came from Pai alone.

Call for direct flights

Harold Ho, vice-president for supplier relations at Royal Scenic, based in Toronto, said it would be great for Thai tourism if airlines were able to operate direct flights between Canada and Thailand.

He said many Canadian tourists want to visit major destinations such as Bangkok and Phuket, as Thailand has become one of the top destinations in Asia after China, Hong Kong and Japan. The company is offering a package priced at C$2,000 per person to Thailand, or about 49,000 baht.

Diane Molzan, general manager for Asia at Goway.com, said her company has been touting Thailand as a key overseas destination for more than 40 years, offering up to 14-day packages.

"Many Canadians are travelling easily to China, Japan and Vietnam due to the availability of direct flights," Ms Molzan said. "If Thailand had direct air services, we could bring more clients to Thailand, as well as secondary provinces."

The opening ceremony for Toronto's TAT office. From left, Tanes Petsuwan, TAT deputy governor for marketing; Maris Sangiampongsa, Thai ambassador to Canada; Kalin Sarasin, chairman of TAT's board; Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT governor; and Srisuda Wananpinyosak, TAT deputy governor for international marketing.

Chef Nuit Regular at her restaurant Pai.

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