Kingdom still a favourite for tourists from India

Thailand will remain one of the most popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia for Indians for many years, a leading Mumbai-based travel agent said yesterday.

"Our forecast on tourism growth from India to Thailand in the next five years - we would say that it will enjoy about 30-to-35-per-cent growth year on year," Madhavan Menon, managing director of Thomas Cook (India), told The Nation.

Other top choices for Indian travellers are the United Arab Emirates' commercial hub Dubai, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

Besides easy air access - only three and a half hours, with many choices of services - Thailand offers top-notch shopping and dining with value for the money.

In the coming years, Indian outbound tourism will witness an increase, mainly fuelled by travellers below 30 years of age, who now account for 60 per cent of the population, Menon said. Actually, they demand to go abroad and experience the world outside their home country.

Under the company's strategic plan, Thomas Cook (India) will focus on online marketing to those younger customers. For example, the company is working on how to deal with the Internet and social media, which could allow the company to create direct-engagement campaigns with customers, he said.

Sansern Ngaorungsi, deputy governor for international marketing, Asia and South Pacific, at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said India was an emerging market for this country with steady growth.

The first nine months of this year saw a surge of about 7-8 per cent in arrivals from India. Normally, they spend about three to eight days in the country and enjoy shopping, particularly for fashion apparel and electronic devices.

"In India, domestic tourist expenditures are still higher than taking an overseas trip," he said, adding that this was an opportunity for Thai tourism.

Next year, TAT plans to promote tourist destinations for free individual travellers, particularly young people. Premium segments such as weddings, golf and film shoots remain the top priority of TAT's strategy to lure big spenders from India.

This year TAT forecasts a 20-per-cent leap in tourist arrivals from India to 1 million, of which 50 per cent would be from the leisure market, 30 per cent from incentive groups and the rest from the niche segments of golf, film shoots and weddings.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/11/07/kingdom-still-a-favourite-for-tourists-from-india/