Thailand continued to remain popular among Indian travellers during the last two years with three of its cities Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya featuring in the list of top 10 overseas destinations, according to a study. According to the Hotel Price Index (HPI) report by Hotels.com Thailand is the most favored outbound destination among Indians and the list is followed by Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur and Dubai.
Thailand is expecting 1.1 million Indian tourist arrivals this year. The tourism ministry of Thailand is focused on repositioning the country and its tourism to attract Indian luxury travellers as well and to stop being merely an affordable destination. Thailand recorded 1.06 million tourist arrivals from India last year, with India being the sixth largest international market in terms of tourist arrivals for the country.
Thailand is mostly longed by budget travellers of the India. Since the major population is middle class and upper middle class; they seek for a less expensive outbound trip. The culture, cuisine, lifestyle and climate of the place is not much far from India’s therefore the Indian tourists find the place more comfortable than any other place. Thailand is a foreign destination which will not appear too foreign to our Indian travelers.
There are many tour operators and agencies that offer various packages to Thailand; in fact Thailand packages are more in the market than any other tourism package. Easy availability packages and lineup of varieties of packages attracts Indians to Thailand than any other outbound destination.
Many Indian women tourists believe that the country is safe for women. Apart from shopping and exploring, women are offered facilities for rejuvenation, culinary lessons, defense classes like Muay Thai boxing classes and activities such as handicrafts and meditation in temples. The governments focus is also on getting more Indian women travellers to the country as 30% of the current Indian arrivals to Thailand are them.
Thailand is not just about visiting the capital city. Unlike many other outbound destinations, all the tourist activities and attractions are not just confined to the capital city. Places like Pattaya or Phi-Phi Islands and equally liked by tourists. Special interest groups visiting for different reasons like sports, adventure activities such as biking, trekking, marathons, scuba diving, golfing or people in pursuit of scenic places all are equally satiated by the country
The country and its tourism were aggressively marketed in terms of package holidays that featured wildlife, adventure and natural scenic beauty at budget prices. Adding the budget packages and marketing it well in India were well received by the Indian consumers who preferred to have a foreign trip to these countries rather than a domestic one. As per the report, outbound tourism is likely to continue to grow at a steady pace and the use of Internet for research, reviews and bookings would result in the strong development of the online channel for outbound travel.