Japan recent decision to allow Thai to travel to the country without a visa is opening new opportunities for tourism for both countries.
BANGKOK- The recent decision by the Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinto Abe to allow Thai to visit Japan without a visa is boosting relations between both countries as new opportunities in the tourism field are emerging. Thailand is already one of the most important incoming market for Japan. Thais are now allowed to enter the Empire of the Rising Sun if their stay do not exceed 15 days. About 8.37 million foreign visitors came in last year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. Among them, 780,000, or 9.3 percent, were from Southeast Asia. The government has set a goal to increase the number of visitors from that region to 2 million in 2016.
From that figure, Thailand generated 261,000 travellers to Japan in 2012, a market share of 3.1% of all international travellers and 33.5% market share of all visitors from Southeast Asia. Between 2009 and 2012, the total number of Thai travellers to Japan has grown by 46.5%. For 2013, Japanese authorities are confident that Thailand will overpass the 350,000-visitor mark. From January to June, first estimations from the JNTO put the growth of Thai travellers to 53%, the equivalent of 202,000 visitors. The new visa waiver regulation will certain stimulate demand from Thailand.
Airlines are already launching promotions to attract more Thai travellers. New charter carrier Asia Atlantic Airlines but also AirAsia X are looking to open new flights to Japan. Thai Airways International recently launched a new promotion with special fares offered in conjunction with the visa abolition. The carrier is now studying to open new routes to Japan. It recently launched new flights to Sapporo and looks now to the possibility to serve Hiroshima and Sendai.
Thailand is also consequently looking at attracting more Japanese into the Kingdom. Japan is one of Thailand’s largest incoming markets, representing last year 1.37 million travellers. From January to June of this year, total arrivals from Japan are up by 17.35% with 0.73 million of Japanese travellers. By the end of the year, the total number of Japanese to Thailand could then surpass the 1.6 million visitors’ mark.
Last Friday, Suraphon Svetasreni, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) met Norifumi Ide, his counterpart from the Japan Tourism Agency. They both discussed ways to promote together both destinations to each market. TAT is now looking at promoting Thailand heavily to new niche segments: long stays for senior travellers as well as student groups and school trips. For Japan, culture and shopping remain two important components of the country’s promotion towards Thailand. Festivals are particularly popular for Thai travellers. With the recent launch of the Bangkok-Sapporo route, ski in Japan can be turned into an appealing product for Thai consumers, especially during the Sapporo Snow Festival.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
