The Korea Tourism Organization announced on the 11th that it invited the chairman group of the Thai Travel Agents Association to promote the revitalization of the Thai inbound tourism market.
The Tourism Organization stated that to expand tourism exchanges between Korea and Thailand and to revitalize the contracted Thai inbound tourism market, 40 representatives from major Thai travel agencies, including the chairman group of the Thai Travel Agents Association, visited Korea from the 7th to the 10th.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Thailand was the largest inbound market from Southeast Asia. In 2019, about 570,000 Thais visited Korea. After the implementation of the electronic travel authorization system (K-ETA), reports of entry restrictions caused a decline in inbound sentiment, and the number of Thai visitors to Korea last year was about 320,000, only 56.7% compared to pre-pandemic levels. Compared to the recovery rates of the Philippine and Vietnamese inbound markets, which require visas to enter Korea and recorded 102.6% and 92.4% respectively, the recovery of the Thai inbound market is relatively slow.
From the 7th to the 10th, the Thailand Travel Industry Association delegation visiting Korea experienced personal color K-beauty. [Photo by Korea Tourism Organization]
The Tourism Organization has been conducting Korean tourism promotional events in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and other locations in Thailand since last year to alleviate the contracted inbound sentiment and spread a positive image of traveling to Korea, and is putting effort into the Thai market by inviting the chairman group of the Travel Agents Association this time.
The Thai Travel Agents Association is an organization consisting of 1,159 outbound travel agencies in Thailand and was established in 1984. It has maintained close cooperation, including signing a business agreement with the Korea Tourism Organization in October 2022 to develop inbound products. This visiting group consists of 40 people from 25 companies, which are travel agencies promoting inbound products for corporate meetings, incentive tourism, and individual travelers.
To develop new inbound products locally in Thailand, the Tourism Organization supported the visiting Thai group to experience various tourism contents. The group experienced diverse programs to enjoy Korea’s spring, including personal color diagnosis, K-pop dance classes favored by Thais, a walking tour of Seochon near the Blue House, and strawberry picking.
Charoen Wangananont, chairman of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said, "The personal color experience is a special tourism content that can only be experienced in Korea, a beauty powerhouse, and we expect it to be very popular among Thai tourists."
Seo Young-chung, acting president of the Korea Tourism Organization, stated, "Through the visit of the Thai Travel Agents Association delegation, the Organization confirmed the friendly atmosphere between the two countries and will continue to expand exchanges with the Thai travel industry by jointly promoting the development of various travel products utilizing K-culture."
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