The long-established Recommend magazine, in its 43rd year, is read by a wide network of US-based travel agents. The publication announced the winners of its 18th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards in the December 2014 issue and on the magazine’s website (recommend.com/rca). The awards comprise 12 categories, and the 2014 edition awarded 56 winners, including destinations, cruise lines, tour operators, travel agents and airlines.
Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Thawatchai Arunyik said, “This award is another testament to Thailand’s wide variety of upscale tourism products and services that suit the needs of newlyweds and loving couples wanting to create an ever-lasting memory of their nuptials. The award is also a result of the tireless effort by our offices in the US to work closely with travel agents as well as to reiterate greater awareness of Thailand among travellers in the US market.”
TAT has been marketing the US market aggressively over the years, via both offline and online marketing platforms. In December 2014, TAT’s BookThailandNow website recorded a total of 387 “Buy Now Clicks” tour bookings, generating US$580,500 in revenue or at an average of US$1,500 per package. Most bookings are in the “Romance” and “Adventure” sections including the “Andaman Island Hopping – 10 Day Tour” from Chinapac.com (totalling 150 bookings) and “The Great Escape – 3 Days 2 Nights” from AoNangPhupetra.com (totalling 62 bookings).
In addition, the TAT Los Angeles Office recently launched two websites. The ThailandforTravelAgents.com is to provide webinar sessions, e-material (brochures/video/pictures) and Thailand’s tourism information while the ThaiTheKnotSpecialist.com is for agents specialising in the wedding and honeymoon markets.
Both TAT Offices in New York and Los Angeles have also provided continuous support to US-based media on their field visits to Thailand. American writer, Becca Hensley, who joined the “Elephant Polo and Sustainability Press Trip” to the kingdom in September 2014, has written four articles on Thailand for several publications, including the “Just Do It Honeymoons that Go Beyond the Lounge Chair” article that was recently published on the New Orleans Bride Magazine’s website on 5 January, 2015.
The New York Post also published an article titled “Return to Paradise in Perky Phuket” by writer David Kauffman.
Thailand is also a popular destination among the world’s celebrity couples. Among them are Beyonce and Jay-Z who celebrated a Christmas break with their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, in Phuket from 24 December, 2014 to 5 January, 2015.
In 2014, Thailand welcomed a total of 1,104,714 tourists from the Americas market, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the US. Of the total, there were 764,745 travellers from the US and 213,161 from Canada. In 2015, TAT expects the number of visitor arrivals from the US to increase by 5 per cent.
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