Bangkok, 24 December 2018 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), together with partners Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, Japan High School Golf Association, Thailand Golf Courses Association, Thai Airways Osaka Office and AirAsia have successfully organised the second annual Thai-Japan Junior Golf Team Competition.
The event was held at the Alpine Golf Resort Chiang Mai from 18 to 21 December with team Japan taking home top honours.
Mr. Santi Sawangcharoen, Deputy Executive Director of the TAT’s East Asia Market Division, said: “The team style competition promotes good sportsmanship between the two countries and educates a new generation of Japanese players about the diversity that Thailand offers as a golf tourism destination. It also showcases new golf venues for repeat visitors.”
The second annual Thai-Japan Junior Golf Team Competition featured a “Ryder Cup” style team play with the main competition held on 21 December between the Thai and Japanese teams with each side comprising 10 pairs of male and female players. It kicked off with a morning “Four Ball” play with five pairs, followed by a “Single Match Play” between all competitors. The winning Japan side played surprisingly well throughout the day.
Last year, Thailand recorded 1.52 million visitors from Japan, up 7.68 percent over 2016, the highest record from the market. Tourism revenue from the Japanese market was estimated at 66.68 billion Baht, a year-on-year increase of 9.63 percent.
The first 11 months of this year saw 1.5 million visitors from Japan, a 6.82 percent growth over the same period last year. It is expected that the year will conclude with 1.63 million Japanese visitors, generating 73.4 billion Baht, representing an increase of 7.52 percent and 9 per cent, respectively.
TAT opened its new Fukuoka office earlier this month to tap the market in Southern Japan. The new operation together with existing offices in Tokyo and Osaka are working closely with tourism partners on promoting Thailand to female Japanese travellers aged 20 to 30 years, first-time visitors, special interest groups, students and youth tourists.
In addition, the TAT offices in Japan have been rolling out activities to create more market awareness about sports tourism in Thailand, especially for sports like running marathons, golf and diving. These include the recent introduction of the world’s best women golfer Ariya Jutanugarn to the Japanese golfing market as the ‘Thailand Golf Ambassador’ and the organising of the third annual “Krungsri Ayutthaya KIZUNA Ekiden” relay race in January, 2019, to name but a few.
For 2019, TAT projects that Thailand will receive 1.68 million visitors from Japan, generating 77.5 billion Baht in revenue, a year-on-year growth of 5 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
