Swedish health-conscious travellers are becoming a test niche market for a Tourism Authority of Thailand new website.
STOCKHOLM- The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Stockholm Office launched its first website specifically to promote health and wellness travel to Thailand, especially towards Swedish women and senior citizens.
Ageing populations and changing lifestyles are contributing to a growing demand for health and wellness solutions, with a specific focus on prevention, maintenance and cure. This means that vacations for rest and recreation are being accompanied by programmes for yoga, meditation, spa treatments and spirituality.
According to Mrs. Nalinee Pananon, TAT Stockholm Office Director, “as a Buddhist country, Thailand is well-known for its beautiful temples, retreats and high-class spas. As such, we are taking this opportunity to promote Thailand as the world’s leading country for spiritual and physical health. Key target markets are families and career women aged 30 years and above”.
The idea of setting up the website emerged after the TAT organised a media familiarisation trip under the theme, “Body & Soul Retreat.” The media participants reported extensively on the broad range of Thai health and wellness products, facilities and services. Articles appeared in many popular magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Allt om Resor, Topphalsa and Voi Hyvin.
After generating the high level of interest, it was a logical step for the TAT to help potential health and wellness travellers get more detailed information. As such, the website is broken down into categories such as: Body & Soul; Live philosophy; Medical Tourism; Active vacation, and tips from travellers. These categories include more details on Thai spas, yoga classes, meditation, detox, dental treatments, foot massage, and opportunities for physical activity.
More categories are to be added after evaluation of the feedback.
Said Mrs. Nalinee, “In the Scandinavian countries, active vacations are as important a part of well-being as meditation and the pursuit of mental peace. In the latter category, visitors can also undertake temple tours and classes on Buddhism.”
Arrivals from Sweden have been growing strongly over the years. In 2011, visitor arrivals from Sweden were up 5.88% to 369,144. Their daily expenditure per person per day was THB 3,619 (USD118) with an average length of stay 18 days. Females comprised 42% of the total, 78% were repeat visitors and 89% FIT travellers.
Between January and October 2012, Swedish visitor arrivals totalled 256,132, a decline of 5.36% over the same period of 2011. As of November 2012, there were seven direct scheduled flights per week between Bangkok and Stockholm.
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.
