New Delhi, 24 January 2019 – Thailand won the “Best Foreign Destination 2019” Award at the South Asia Tours and Travels Exhibition (SATTE) 2019, one of India’s most important travel trade shows organised annually in New Delhi.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) was represented at the awards ceremony on 17 January, 2019, by Mr. Klissada Ratanapruk (in photo, 2nd from left), TAT Executive Director of the ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific Region and Mrs. Kulpramote Wannalert (in photo, 2nd from right), TAT Director of the ASEAN, South Asia and the South Pacific Division.
SATTE is organised by UBM India, a major exhibition organising company, at the India Expo Centre in Greater Noida. The 26th edition this year was attended by 1,000 exhibitors and representatives from over 50 countries and 90 cities across India.
The trade show includes the annual awards, which are considered and selected by a panel of Indian tourism experts and executives in various categories; such as, hotels, tour companies, online marketing sites, bloggers, etc.
This year, Thailand shared the “Best Foreign Destination 2019” with Australia from amongst a shortlist of 11 countries.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor, said: “We are very proud to be recognised thus by senior leaders and executives of India’s top travel institutions. It will go a long way to bolster our strong marketing and promotional efforts across India.”
The SATTE award supplements other similar recognitions for the Thai travel industry in India. In November 2018, the Thai capital of Bangkok won the top honour as the Best City – International category in the seventh edition of India’s Best Awards conferred by the respected travel publication Travel + Leisure India & South Asia.
India is one of Thailand’s top ten sources of visitors, and one of the growing club of countries that generate more than one million visitors a year. In January – November 2018, Thailand received 1.42 million visitors from India, up by 12% over the same period of 2017. They generated an estimated 63 billion Baht in tourism revenue, up by 31%.
Indian leisure travellers generally go shopping and sightseeing in Bangkok and Pattaya with an increasing number also heading to Phuket, Chiang Mai, Ko Samui, Chiang Rai, Krabi, Ayutthaya and Ko Chang (Trat). Recent years have also shown a marked rise in the number of Indian film-makers, MICE delegates, wedding parties and honeymooners.
