Although Pattaya already is a huge drawn for Indian tourists, city and tourism officials spent three days on the subcontinent trying to entice even more visitors to come to the Eastern Seaboard.
Pattaya Deputy Mayor Apichart Virapal led a delegation of public officials and tourism industry leaders to New Delhi, Kolkata and Jaipur Jan. 31-Feb. 5 for the South Asian Travel & Tourism Exposition.
Thai Ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi welcomed the deputy mayor, Tourism Authority of Thailand Vice President for South Asia Santi Chutintara and TAT Pattaya office Director Suladda Sarutilavan to the trade show in New Delhi where they met with Indian travel agents and tour operators to show off the best of Pattaya.
Thai hospitality companies shared information on resorts and tourist attractions and tried to strike partnership deals to send a steady stream of Indians to Pattaya.
On Feb. 4 and 5, the group hosted networking dinners in Jaipur and Kolkata where 30 Thai companies worked with a crowd of local tour guides and other travel buyers.
The Pattaya contingent made the events as attractive to attend as possible, hosting raffle drawings with prizes that included two roundtrip air tickets to Thailand from each city.
The hope was that giving Indian travel buyers a chance to meet face-to-face with leaders in Pattaya and Thailand’s tourism sector would give them the confidence to book tours to Pattaya over the next year.
