BANGKOK, 15 March 2013 The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is confident the country will see a sizable growth in spending by European travelers.
TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing Juthaporn Rerngronasa said on Thursday that the outlook of the European market, especially in Switzerland, Russia, Germany and Eastern Europe, remains sound and strong for Thai tourism.
Mrs. Juthaporn attributed such a promising viewpoint to the strong economic conditions in these countries.
She added that the main market for the Thai travel industry continues to be Russia, with some 1.3 million travelers from this country in 2012, followed by around 970,000, 400,000 and 200,000 visitors from Germany, France and Switzerland, respectively.
However, in the past year, tourists from Scandinavia dropped approximately 6% as seen by the drop in the number of charter flights to Thailand.
The TAT Deputy Governor added that more campaigns will be launched to attract high-end travelers and to penetrate small markets such as Dublin in Ireland and small cities in Poland, for instance, under the collaboration with some airlines.
Mrs. Juthaporn asserted that, all in all, European travelers remain quality visitors for the kingdom, with each of them having an average stay of 14 days, compared with the average of 4-5 days by Asian travelers.
Lastly, she noted that the TAT expects Thai tourism for the European market to grow 5-6% this year.
