Leading partners joining the campaign are such as TCEB, Central Department Store, Tops Market, Tops Online, Central Food Hall, CENTARA Hotels and Resorts, Siam Kempinski Hotel, Bangkok Airways, Kris+ and Pelago by Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Thai Smile Airways, VietJet Air, financial institutions, credit cards and online payment platforms: Alipay, JCB, Mastercard, UnionPay, WeChat Pay, TRUE Corporation and KLOOK travel e-commerce platform.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said: "I am very pleased to be a part of this press conference. Throughout the years, Central Pattana and all partners have been an important driving force for the economy and have helped to complement the Thai tourism industry. That means Thailand has become a sustainable popular tourist destination and selected as No. 1 in the World's Top Travel Destinations 2022 in the 'Asia's Best' Awards 2022 as the situation in the country returns to normal with the easing of various measures and the full re-opening of the country. All of these factors help contribute to the continued overall recovery of the Thai economy especially retail businesses, hotels, airlines and partners from all fields in the Thai tourism industry, which are all an important mechanism to drive the economy.
The TAT has introduced its proactive tourism stimulus measures for domestic tourism and is rebuilding the international tourist market, with the number of tourists continuing to increase. The TAT is very confident that the number of foreign tourists in 2022 will exceed 10 million in accordance with the pre-set targets. I appreciate the cooperation integral to the private sector, which is a tourism booster and will help us effectively move towards our goal to drive Thai tourism towards sustainable growth and recover our country's economy."
Dr. Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, Executive Vice President of Marketing for Central Pattana plc, said: "We are currently on our way to the post-COVID-19 period as people are travelling again and international travel measures have been eased in many countries. Central shopping centers' customer traffic figures have returned to almost 100% nationwide, especially tourist malls in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Pattaya, etc. Customer traffic for hotels and food courts has clearly recovered. We are certain that the number of foreign tourists entering Thailand will meet the TAT target of 10 million for 2022. The latest number of tourists arriving in Thailand (to August) show as many as 3.78 million people, generating income for the country of up to 176 billion baht. The top three nationalities visiting Thailand are from Malaysia, India and Singapore, respectively. For the overall tourism marketing to attract global tourists to Thailand, we have set three distinctive strategies to push forward Thailand to become a 'global preferred destination' as follows:
1st Strategy - Stimulate spending and spread income by promoting shopping centers as a connection hub for the 'retail & tourism ecosystem' to complement the whole system, with the strength of Central shopping centers having branches nationwide (19 branches located in 15 provinces), both in major and secondary cities. We will help complement the tourism sector by organizing tourism promotional events, hotel fairs, OTOP markets, and cross-region community tourism programs such as the 'Southern Tourism Fair' at centralwOrld or in Phuket to attract tourists from other regions to visit Phuket, etc. We are also joining hands with partners from both the public and private sectors to design a 'customer journey' from 'pre-arrival stage' to 'mall arrival stage', distributing income to all sectors involved in the tourism ecosystem as well as boosting tourism in local communities and neighboring provinces by joining hands with:
- The government in a Tourism Sandbox and joining hands with TAT Overseas Offices in Dubai and Hong Kong to create the 'Fam Trip' and other co-promotions with Central shopping centers to help spur tourist spending.
- TCEB to support MICE and in the future, the government may promote the country as a hosting venue or host more global events.
- Financial institutions and credit cards, including online payment platforms in the entire ecosystem such as Mastercard offers free premium and cash back, JCB, UnionPay, Alipay, WeChat Pay offering special privileges and a fully packed discount program.
- Shops in our shopping centers and Central Group to launch the 'Welcome Package', which includes special discounts from Central Department Store, Tops Market, Tops Online, Central Food Hall and over 5,000-baht discounts from shops and restaurants in Central shopping centers and collaborating with partner hotels to offer the 'Welcome Package' to customers when staying at hotels near our shopping centers.
- TRUE Corporation supports a free SIM card and Wi Fi for all foreign tourists who visit our shopping centers.
- Leading airlines such as Bangkok Airways, Kris+ by Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Thai Smile and VietJet Air. Simply show your boarding pass when visiting Central shopping centers to enjoy special privileges such as vouchers and discounts from participating stores, Central Department Store, Tops Market, Central Food Hall and TOPS Online in addition to free coupons for authentic Thai food when spending a certain amount on shopping and a special one-time access to 'The Exclusive Lounge' for two people at centralwOrld, Central Village and Central Phuket for holders of airline membership cards.
- KLOOK online travel platform to launch exclusive promotions for foreign customers: get a free Starbucks e-Coupon worth 100 baht when spending 2,000 baht, a free KLOOK discount code worth 200 baht when spending 2,000 baht on shopping at Central Ayutthaya or 2,500 baht at centralwOrld and Central Phuket. Organizing the 'Pick Up & Drop Off One-Day Tour' area for international tourists at both centralwOrld and Central Ayutthaya in addition to KLOOK Downtown Service Counter at centralwOrld, the first comprehensive tourism service in Bangkok.
2nd Strategy - Springboard Rising Cities: continuing to expand projects in 'rising cities', promoting the secondary provinces alongside major provinces such as Bangkok-Ayutthaya-Sukhothai, Chiangmai-Lamphun-Lampang, Phuket-Krabi, etc. while highlighting Central projects that are fully-integrated mixed-use development, covering shopping centers, hotels, condominiums, convention halls, and offices. Examples of our successful projects in secondary cities include Central Ayutthaya and Central Chanthaburi, as we have been able to elevate tourism in these cities by drawing the local essence to create a new landmark for each city through the project designs. We have also engaged with local communities to highlight the charms and strengths of the province to attract tourists, contributed to local wealth, and helped distribute income to people in the communities. We have joined hands with partners to design long-term travel programs and build infrastructure facilities that encourage a longer stay e.g. in the South, we focus on 'luxury & leisure' travel for Phuket, while we focus on building an 'art region' for Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
3rd Strategy - Spotlight on Global Shopping Destination: pushing forward Bangkok and Phuket as world-class shopping cities. We have developed different formats of shopping destination to support all types of tourists, such as Central Village: the first luxury outlet in Thailand, Central Phuket: the only luxury mall in Thailand's world-class tourist city, centralwOrld: a lifestyle destination landmark, a venue for global events and a focal point for tourists from around the world to check in. centralwOrld has launched recently-renovated new zones to welcome tourists in Zone I and 'Hug Thai Hug Craft', a venue for community products and souvenirs, and Jingjing Market, which includes products from local farmers nationwide. We also have more than 15 branches of tourist malls in tourist provinces nationwide, such as Central Ayutthaya, Central Pattaya, Central Chiangmai, and Central Samui, etc.
At all branches of our shopping centers, we support the holding of large festive nationally-celebrated events such as Chinese New Year, Songkran and Thailand Countdown events, etc. in order to attract more tourists and create a 'reason to visit' our shopping centers. We also have full-service downtown 'VAT Refund' points at our top three most popular branches among tourists: centralwOrld, Central Village and Central Rama 9, to increase convenience for tourists. We believe in Thailand's potential in tourism, which always ranks among the top global destinations, and with the strong vision of the government - in particular the TAT, which has set a clear and active action plan, we will effectively flip and revive the country's economy and continue to push Thailand forward to become the most popular destination in the world," Dr. Nattakit concluded.
Source: Central Pattana
