Thailand woos tourists in Mangalore

Thai artistes and craftspersons demonstrating their skills at a press conference held by Thailand Tourism Authority in Mangalore on Friday. Photo: R. Eswarraj

Officials from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) conducted a road show in the city on Friday to lure Mangaloreans to visit the country.

Thailand is a hub of adventure, culture, weddings and honeymoons, and is a destination for those travelling for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Sethaphan Buddhani, Director, TAT Mumbai Office, said that a large number of Indian travellers came from the smaller pockets of the country. “With the increasing travel expenditure of an average Indian, we see Mangalore as a market where we would like to expand our presence.”

Phanom Kaributra, Executive Director of ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific Region Department, TAT Bangkok, said that India was a vast and significant market for Thailand.

By reaching out to newer markets such as Mangalore; Thailand wanted to further increase the number of tourists to the country, he said.

He said that as on November 2012, there was an increase of 10.37 per cent of tourist arrivals as compared to 2011.