The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to launch a big data analytics platform for tourism next month, created to address the changes in global and local tourism industries.
The big data project, managed under the TAT's "Tourism Smart Data Management" scheme, will be placed on the TAT website, which features travel information and tourism products and services in 21 languages.
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, the TAT's deputy governor for policy and planning, said the development of big data analytics is the final phase of the project, which started in April this year.
The platform is to serve rising demand for digital technology in the tourism industry and enables tourists to access travel information easily, especially for small provinces.
Necessary tourist data will be integrated along with analysis of customer demand for various tourism services and products that could be used by tourists and related business operators, he said.
The TAT is collecting information on tourist behaviour from major mobile phone companies, banks and social media, as well as market demand from overseas.
Data from mobile companies will also show tourists' traffic and behaviour such as places visited, spending, activities and travel statistics.
With this data, the TAT will work with the biggest search engine, Google, and Facebook, the most popular social media platform in Thailand, to offer attractive products and creative packages for travellers.
The TAT also wants to reach out to online travel agents (OTAs), who will create routing and deal with certified Airbnb listings to promote local communities.
"The software will report and update tourism data for tourists while they are travelling in Thailand," Mr Siripakorn said. "They will able to arrange travel plans to fit their needs."
According to Mr Siripakorn, the TAT's smart data platform serves as a marketing tool to allow business alliances in the travel and tourism industry to study tourism trends. This will enable them to prepare to develop areas as balanced tourist attractions.
One of the highlights of the new platform is the Thailand Tourism Map application that provides information about 55 second-tier provinces.
Through the app, tourists can access all the information they may need to plan a trip, including modes of transport.
The TAT's main strategy is to promote small provinces that receive a maximum of 4 million visitors a year to become attractive destinations for tourists.
Some 70% of local and international tourists visit 22 first-tier provinces and 30% travel to the 55 other provinces. The 22 provinces receive up to 90% of tourist revenues, while the 55 smaller provinces gain only 10% of total income.
"After unveiling a new big data analytics platform, we expect to see visitors to secondary provinces rise to 35% of the total," Mr Siripakorn said.