Czech – December 13, 2012: Readership polls conducted by two of the Czech Republic’s popular consumer and travel trade papers have shown that Thailand ranks among the most popular destinations for Czech travellers this winter season.
The daily tabloid newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, in its 3-4 November, 2012, edition, reported that Thailand was one of the top destinations for Czech tourists during the winter season, highly regarded for the scenic beauty of its many islands, safety and security, good atmosphere, value for money, and good transport systems. The newspaper claims to have an average daily readership of around 224,000, making it one of the country’s most popular and influential newspapers.
Moreover, Thailand was selected as the third best tourist destination for Czech travellers in 2012 by readers of the Travel Trade Gazette (TTG), according to a report from the Royal Thai Embassy in Prague. The awards ceremony was held on 9 November, 2012. TTG is a popular travel trade paper in the Czech Republic and conducts regular readership polls to identify travel trends and customer preferences.
In 2011, Thailand welcomed a total of 29,126 Czech visitors, up 5.68% over 2010. During January – September 2012, Czech visitors totalled 23,615, up by 0.14% over the same period of 2011.
Ms. Supranee Pongpat, Director of the TAT Frankfurt Office, which also oversees tourism in the Czech Republic commented, “The Czech Republic is one of our important emerging source markets that is producing good results in spite of the somewhat difficult economic conditions in Europe. The growing popularity of Thailand also shows that our marketing strategies there are working. In January 2012, we worked with various Czech media groups and events organisers to have Thailand featured as a backdrop destination for the widely-televised Miss Czech beauty pageant.”
Thousands of Czech citizens seek out warm weather destinations to get a brief respite from their cold winters. The fact that they get a 15-day visa on arrival in Thailand facilitates the decision-making process. First time visitors mostly visit Pattaya while repeat visitors venture beyond to the beaches of Krabi, Phuket and Surat Thani.
Although there are no direct scheduled flights between the Czech Republic and Thailand, visitors come via charter flights organised by various travel agents and tour operators or via other transit points in Europe and the Gulf countries.
Contact information:
International Public Relations Division
Tourism Authority of Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2250 5500 ext. 4544-48
Fax: +66 (0) 2253 7419
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.tatnews.org
