TAT entices British with food campaign
The
Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will launch a campaign called Eat Thai, Visit Thai for the British market to boost Thailand’s lucrative gastronomy tourism and increase first-time visitors.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha presided over the campaign’s debut while visiting Britain on June 21. He witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the TAT and seven groups of Thai restaurant operators there for further collaboration on gastronomy tourism.
The seven operators are Minor Group, Thai Square, Giggling, Thai Leisure Group, Kho Thai, Rosa Group and Bussaba Group.
In addition, makers of Thai alcoholic drinks like Singha, Chang and Monsoon Wine, as well as airlines such as Thai Airways, Eva Air, Etihad and Qatar Airways, are taking part in the campaign.
The campaign runs from August until the end of September. TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said Thai food remains popular in Europe and the TAT wants to use related restaurants to promote Thai cuisine and tourism.
Under the campaign, participating restaurants will promote Thai cuisine and experiences in secondary British cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow, with a particular focus on attracting first-time visitors.
The tourism authority aims for the campaign to increase first-time visits from Britain by 5% during the period, generating 100 million baht.
Thai food is a major pillar of the national tourism campaign being promoted worldwide.
“The TAT office in London will be working with Thai restaurants to promote the Eat Thai, Visit Thai campaign by introducing new attractions in secondary provinces,” Mr Yuthasak said.
The campaign is intended to encourage tourists to visit non-popular destinations and to extend their length of stay in small cities.