Bangkok, 27 May 2024 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and Traveloka, Southeast Asia’s leading travel platform, today signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to enhance the travel platform’s commitment to Thailand’s tourism industry. Both parties will collaborate to promote inbound and domestic tourism, including secondary destinations.
The MOA provides the legal framework for Traveloka to collaborate with the TAT on dual marketing campaigns, sustainability initiatives and travel insights. This agreement also allows Traveloka to collaborate directly with the TAT Head Office in Bangkok and all domestic and overseas offices. This will further strengthen Traveloka’s support of the Thai travel industry through its extensive reach and expertise.
Ms Thapanee Kiatphaibool, TAT Governor, said, “This MOA marks a strategic collaboration with Traveloka, our long-term partner who has been supporting us in promoting secondary cities and inbound travel. The agreement will enable us to expand the scope of our partnership. In addition, this enhanced partnership with Traveloka will help solidify Thailand’s position as an industry leader in moving towards experience-based and sustainable tourism. This is in alignment with TAT’s direction to elevate Thailand’s travel industry and enhance its competitive advantage.”
The recent joint campaign, ‘Unveiling Thailand’s Treasure’, in which Traveloka played a crucial role, was successfully implemented this year. This collaboration extends TAT’s ongoing efforts to promote secondary cities and emerging destinations across Thailand.
“Traveloka is very pleased to support the policy to drive tourism for sustainable economic growth. From January to March, the campaign ‘Unveiling Thailand’s Treasure,’ in collaboration with the TAT, was highly successful in showcasing the potential of lesser-known tourist destinations to a wider audience,” Mr. Albert Albert, Traveloka Co-founder, said. “According to last year’s statistics, Traveloka saw an increase in domestic market sales, both in flights and accommodations, especially during Chinese New Year and Songkran festivals in Bangkok and its vicinity, as well as in major tourist provinces like Chiang Mai, Songkhla (Hat Yai), and Udon Thani. This reflects the continued demand for domestic travel, signalling positive growth for the local economy.”
TAT’s campaign has broadened the spectrum of tourism activities, spanning economic advantages to emerging destinations. It also promotes the exploration of secondary cities, uncovering ‘Hidden Gems’ that bring a fresh and interesting dimension to travel itineraries.
Traveloka is well positioned to support this, offering flights, accommodation, and local attractions to enhance the customers’ experiences that are available under “Attractions & Activities” in the Traveloka app. The market potential for international travellers is also substantial and drawing them to visit and explore Thailand can enhance our global standing as the go-to travel platform.
In addition, Traveloka witnessed a significant demand in the domestic market, especially as the lunar new year and Songkran holidays approached, with Bangkok Metropolitan emerging as the leading domestic source city, followed by Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Udon Thani. Utilising these data-driven insights will enable both parties to identify customer’s travel needs and aspirations while collaborating to promote sustainable tourism practices that contribute to the well-being of local Thai communities.
“This partnership proves the robust relationship between Traveloka and the TAT. We are confident that together we can continue to promote Thailand as a world-class travel destination,” Mr. Albert concluded.
This year, TAT has set a target of generating 3 trillion Baht, with 1.92 trillion Baht coming from international tourism and 1.08 trillion Baht from domestic tourism. Last year, Thailand welcomed 28 million visitors, generating a 1.2 trillion Baht revenue.
