Latest among them is the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), which has adopted an irreverent acronym to tempt travellers back – SEXY.
Like many acronyms, SEXY is tenuous. “To be rolled out during 2021-2022, the ‘SEXY’ tourism concept is in response to the changes in travel behaviour and TAT’s goal to restore Thailand’s tourism: S – Safety and Hygiene, E – Environmental Sustainability, X – Extra Experiences, and Y – Yield,” states the TAT website.
We don’t know about you, but we’re beginning to feel pretty hot under the collar. After all, nothing turns tourists on more than “yield”, right?
According to TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn, “this ‘SEXY’ tourism concept […] will help restore travellers’ confidence while driving recovery for both the Thai economy and the tourism industry to make a comeback stronger than ever”.
For a country that has been trying to shed its reputation as a sex tourism destination, it is an interesting move – particularly as the “concept” behind the campaign is far from saucy, or even audacious. Instead, the angle seems provocatively shoehorned in to get people talking. (In which case, bravo, TAT.)
The Land of Smiles’ association with carnal delights dates back to the Vietnam war, when American soldiers would visit places such as Pattaya –today the country’s unofficial “sex capital”, despite authorities’ insistence that it “has reinvented itself for upscale travellers” – for “rest and recreation”. No prizes for guessing what that comprised.
As Pattaya’s fame grew, Thailand became synonymous with sex tourism. Although prostitution is illegal, it is practised openly and estimates put the number of Thai prostitutes at anywhere from 800,000 to more than 2 million, with many aged under 18, according to English-language newspaper The Nation, which described a “striking gulf between the law and reality”. Analysis by global black market monitor Havoscope showed the Thai sex trade could be worth US$6.4 billion a year, or about 3 per cent of the county’s gross domestic product.
The military junta that ruled Thailand from 2014 to 2019 seemed at pains to clean up the country’s image. Among its sometimes hapless efforts to do so, in 2017 it renamed a section of Pattaya’s red-light district “Happy Zone”, prompting Supasorn to say the “marketing strategy and policy to move Thailand forward as a ‘Quality Destination’ has stepped in the right direction since it was paid off by last year’s success, and strongly opposes any form of sex tourism”. Glad that’s cleared up.
Then along came the coronavirus and Thai tourism, including the taboo part, collapsed. (As America’s National Public Radio reports: “While prostitution exists for the domestic Thai market, it is separate from the red-light districts of Thailand’s tourist hubs, which cater almost exclusively to foreign visitors.”)
Online magazine Ariana reported, “At the height of the outbreak [Thailand’s government-imposed state of emergency] shut down entertainment venues and brothels, forcing many sex workers onto the streets.” Chalidaporn Songsamphan, president of Service Workers in Groups Foundation, a Thai organisation that works to protect the rights of sex workers, told Ariana that prostitutes were excluded from government relief packages for the newly unemployed.
Read the full article at The Southern China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3121928/tourism-authority-thailand-unveils-sexy-tourism
Like many acronyms, SEXY is tenuous. “To be rolled out during 2021-2022, the ‘SEXY’ tourism concept is in response to the changes in travel behaviour and TAT’s goal to restore Thailand’s tourism: S – Safety and Hygiene, E – Environmental Sustainability, X – Extra Experiences, and Y – Yield,” states the TAT website.
We don’t know about you, but we’re beginning to feel pretty hot under the collar. After all, nothing turns tourists on more than “yield”, right?
According to TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn, “this ‘SEXY’ tourism concept […] will help restore travellers’ confidence while driving recovery for both the Thai economy and the tourism industry to make a comeback stronger than ever”.
For a country that has been trying to shed its reputation as a sex tourism destination, it is an interesting move – particularly as the “concept” behind the campaign is far from saucy, or even audacious. Instead, the angle seems provocatively shoehorned in to get people talking. (In which case, bravo, TAT.)
The Land of Smiles’ association with carnal delights dates back to the Vietnam war, when American soldiers would visit places such as Pattaya –today the country’s unofficial “sex capital”, despite authorities’ insistence that it “has reinvented itself for upscale travellers” – for “rest and recreation”. No prizes for guessing what that comprised.
As Pattaya’s fame grew, Thailand became synonymous with sex tourism. Although prostitution is illegal, it is practised openly and estimates put the number of Thai prostitutes at anywhere from 800,000 to more than 2 million, with many aged under 18, according to English-language newspaper The Nation, which described a “striking gulf between the law and reality”. Analysis by global black market monitor Havoscope showed the Thai sex trade could be worth US$6.4 billion a year, or about 3 per cent of the county’s gross domestic product.
The military junta that ruled Thailand from 2014 to 2019 seemed at pains to clean up the country’s image. Among its sometimes hapless efforts to do so, in 2017 it renamed a section of Pattaya’s red-light district “Happy Zone”, prompting Supasorn to say the “marketing strategy and policy to move Thailand forward as a ‘Quality Destination’ has stepped in the right direction since it was paid off by last year’s success, and strongly opposes any form of sex tourism”. Glad that’s cleared up.
Then along came the coronavirus and Thai tourism, including the taboo part, collapsed. (As America’s National Public Radio reports: “While prostitution exists for the domestic Thai market, it is separate from the red-light districts of Thailand’s tourist hubs, which cater almost exclusively to foreign visitors.”)
Online magazine Ariana reported, “At the height of the outbreak [Thailand’s government-imposed state of emergency] shut down entertainment venues and brothels, forcing many sex workers onto the streets.” Chalidaporn Songsamphan, president of Service Workers in Groups Foundation, a Thai organisation that works to protect the rights of sex workers, told Ariana that prostitutes were excluded from government relief packages for the newly unemployed.
Read the full article at The Southern China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/travel/article/3121928/tourism-authority-thailand-unveils-sexy-tourism
Photo: Soi Cowboy, in Bangkok, is known for its go-go bars. (Photo: SCMP / May Tse)
Tags: destination promotion, Environmental Sustainability, Extra Experiences, international arrivals, safety and hygiene, TAT, Thailand, Tourism
Tags: destination promotion, Environmental Sustainability, Extra Experiences, international arrivals, safety and hygiene, TAT, Thailand, Tourism
Website: www.DestinationMekong.com
Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office
c/o 3rd Floor, Department of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports, 154 Rama 1 Road National Stadium, Wangmai, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Web: www.mekongtourism.org
Tel: +66 2038 5071-1
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