Rai Umraopati Ray
Thailand, formerly Siam till 1939 is blessed with varied ecosystems — from the lush Mangroves and exotic beaches of the Andaman and resilient coasts along the southern peninsula to central plains and hilly forested areas in the North to broad plateau towards the Northeast. Literally placed in the centre of mainland Southeast Asia, this constitutional monarchy is no stranger to tourism. In fact, according to WordData information, Thailand recorded a total of 40 million tourists in 2019, ranking 5th in the world in absolute terms. Post pandemic, tourism is being pegged as the key engine supporting Thailand‘s economic recovery. The Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) has upgraded its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals in 2022 to 7.4 million, up from 5.7 million.
Amazing New Chapters
The Land of Smiles is not only ready to greet visitors but making sure that vaccinated and non-vaccinated travellers can make their way into the country simply and with a minimum of fuss. It is tapping into the newer travel trends like the rise of conscious travellers, greater flexibility around travel, longer stays, wedding tourism and similar niche concepts under the theme ‘Visit Thailand Year 2022, Amazing New Chapters’.
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, Deputy Governor for Marketing and Communications, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) says, “Thailand is open and ready to welcome tourists from around the world. Despite the long break the pandemic brought us, we have continued working and over these two years there have been many changes and adjustments in the tourism industry globally and in Thailand. With the Visit Thailand Year 2022-2023, we would like to open our home country to present some of the kingdom’s many fascinating tourism experiences and hope all travellers will not miss out.”
NFT – or Nature to keep, Food to explore, and ‘Thainess’ to discover – are the main highlighted products in the “Amazing New Chapters” initiative with the focus to highlight the abundance of tourism products and services on offer in Thailand, as well as its cultural diversity and richness.
Adds Sukanya Sirikanjanakul, Executive Director, TAT ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific, “By easing flexibility and increasing accessibility, tourists will be able to come in freely. India is one of Thailand’s top visitor source markets. TAT is going all out to showcase the wonderful possibilities Thailand offers for the ideal Indian weddings. Destinations like Krabi, Hua Hin, Rayong, Pattaya, Phuket, and Ko Samui are already popular with Indian wedding couples and honeymooners. We would like to be the preferred destination for Indian travellers and are quite focussed to growing the lucrative Indian wedding and honeymoon market to Thailand.”
Let’s ‘Thai’ the Knot
In 2019, a total of 1,995,516 Indians travelled to the kingdom generating tourism income of 86,372.01 million Baht representing a 24.85% rise in arrivals and 27.45% rise in income. As one of the growing niche trends — Indian couples opt for Thailand as their wedding venue because of the perfect setting for a truly romantic rendezvous, the country offers. Before the pandemic, according to one estimate, about 350 to 400 couples went to Thailand for their weddings with guest figures ranging between 200 to 500 people per wedding. The beauty of the destination is such that there’s something for everyone, making it the perfect place to host either big fat Indian weddings or close-knit family celebrations. The beachside resorts of Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phuket, Khao Lak, Pattaya, Krabi and Rayong are excellent wedding venues with unmatched ‘Thai’ hospitality coupled with curated menus, dreamy backdrops, especially curated excursions, bespoke functions that all add up to glamorous dreamy marriage celebrations. Along with the beach destinations, Chiang Mai and Bangkok are equally popular for being an all encompassing wedding haven. No doubt, couples are spoilt for choices in Thailand from tranquil islands, peaceful riverside, dramatic hilly landscape to even the plantations that make for a wonderful backdrop to a picture-perfect wedding.
“Amazing Thailand is very well known as a dream wedding destination and has always been the most popular destination for the grand Indian wedding and other celebrations such as milestone birthdays, anniversaries and family reunions. Thailand can fulfil every needs of an Indian wedding from the customs, the space needed, lavish set up, expansive decor, dancers, celebrity entertainers, floral arrangements, ice sculptures and culinary experience to arranging horses, elephants, henna artists, makeup artists as well as priests (traditional pandits). All this combined with reasonable pricing options and Thai hospitality makes Thailand the ideal location,” informs Vachirachai Sirisumpan, Director TAT New Delhi Office.
Avers Priyanka Ghosh, Director of Sales and Marketing at InterContinental Phuket Resort, “The local Thai culture, music, dance and cuisine makes your celebrations so much more special. The big fat Indian wedding thrives on colour, light, love and laughter – and Thai culture mingles with it perfectly to create one vibrant celebration to remember. The traditional Indian wedding services are easily available here, including a pandit, mehendi artists, make-up artists and even a horse or elephant for the wedding. You can even gift your guests with beautiful Thai crafts like handmade jewellery, artificial flowers, soaps, textiles and home decor items. World-class resorts like ours can be booked at good rates in Thailand, giving you the best of luxury and hospitality without breaking the bank.”
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