TAT scores gold with French tourists ahead of Paris Olympics
Thailand is gearing up to score big by launching a series of travel promotions before, during and after the Games
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has ramped up efforts to attract French tourists before, during and after the Olympics, which kicked off in Paris on Friday.
TAT has been working with Carrefour Voyages since May to launch promotions through 115 French travel agents. This initiative aims to boost Thai tourism via online and offline channels with a target to sell 2,000 packages by August.
In addition to this, TAT will continue its marketing drive in the latter half of the year through collaborations with Voyage Privé, Oovatu, Singapore Airlines, and the Singapore Tourism Board. The objective is to attract 632,000 French tourists this year and generate at least 42.9 billion baht in revenue.
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT’s deputy governor for Europe, Americas, Middle East, and Africa, noted that the long-haul market shows promising growth. TAT forecasts that the market will surpass pre-pandemic levels in both numbers and revenue. The Paris 2024 Olympics are expected to serve as a significant draw for French tourists, encouraging them to visit Thailand before and after the games.
TAT has tied up with Carrefour Voyages to offer special travel packages through 115 travel agents. Packages start at 1,469 euros for a 17-day, 14-night trip, including international flights and hotel accommodation. Other optional packages included 1,799 euros for trips that included a stopover in the North of Thailand or 1,849 euros for both an excursion to the North and Phuket.
TAT and Carrefour Voyages have been advertising the offers via promotional materials as well as a one-minute video clip. Carrefour Voyages has also launched a 24-hour call centre providing information about Thailand.
Looking ahead, TAT will launch additional joint promotions, namely:
Voyage Privé (July 30-September 9): Offering packages featuring sports tourism activities such as Muay Thai lessons in Pattaya, diving in Koh Samui, trekking in Khao Yai or Flight of the Gibbon zipline tour in Chiang Mai.
Oovatu (from September 2): Green Season packages focusing on high-end gastronomy experiences in luxury hotels priced at approximately 3,565 euros per person. This promotion has already sold 1,274 packages, generating about 4.3 million euros or approximately 168.8 million baht.
From January 1 to July 25, Thailand has welcomed 420,446 French tourists, with 56% being first-time visitors and 44% repeat visitors.
They stayed in Thailand for approximately 18 nights and spent an average of about 66,796 baht per trip. Popular destinations included Bangkok, Krabi, Surat Thani, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
