Amazing Thailand - Green Door Enterprises

Amazing Thailand

Amazing Thailand Set To Become 'Miracle Thailand' - TAT Predicts 30 Million Annual Visitors

The Tourism Authority Of Thailand (TAT) has announced it's new campaign "The Miracle Years of Amazing Thailand," an aggressive marketing scheme designed to double the amount of annual visitors by 2014. At first glance, many have suggested that indeed it would require a "miracle", in order to achieve such a bold prediction. When you look at the past success of the "Amazing Thailand" campaign, through years of political unrest and several challenging setbacks, perhaps there is reason to be optimistic about the chance of them achieving their target.

It won't require a miracle for Thailand to see a dramatic growth in annual visitors

Despite dealing with issues such as the 2004 South Asian Tsunami, SARS, a global financial crisis in 2008,and years of violent political protests, the number of annual tourist arrivals has gone from just over 10 million in 2003, to over 15 million in 2010. The TAT is expecting that expanding markets such as Chinese and Russian tour groups will result in as many as 30 million annual visitors by 2014. With what appears to be a more stable political climate, it seems that a significant rise in tourism numbers is more than likely.

With a budget of over 16 million USD, the TAT is sponsoring world events such as Formula One, the Sao Paolo Snow Festival and the Australian Open golf championship. They will also continue the policy of waiving visa fees for selected countries in order to promote more visitors. Thai holidays and festivals such as Songkran and Loy Krathong will also be aggressively promoted to draw more tourists. Such strategies have yielded success in the past, and Thais seem to be firm in the belief that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

It remains to be seen if the TAT can reach their target number of 30 million visitors, however even if they were to fall short of their expectations, the tourism industry of Thailand is poised to enjoy tremendous success in the coming years. The affordable accommodation and relatively low cost of food and entertainment combined with world renowned nightlife is unrivaled by other countries in Southeast Asia. Thailand is only gaining in popularity, and there is no end in sight when it comes to the increase in annual visitors.

With what is considered to be some of the world's best beaches, friendliest locals and a warm climate year round, Thailand will look to be the most popular destination in Southeast Asia for the years to come. Vietnam is perhaps Thailand's stiffest competition, with equally beautiful beaches and an even more affordable cost of living, however Vietnam is at least 20 years behind, and Thailand has much more to offer to most tourists. It won't require a miracle for Thailand to see a dramatic growth in annual visitors, barring a catastrophe, it seems to be inevitable.