TCC Hotels Group– owner among others of Imperial Group of Hotels-, Asia Books and Lonely Planet come up together with special packages exclusively sold in bookshops all across Thailand to promote the beauties of the Kingdom.
BANGKOK- This is an original initiative especially if it proves that it can attract customers. In cooperation with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and Lonely Planet guide books, TCC Hotels Group, which owns among others the Imperial Group of Hotels and Asia Books (Thailand’s largest chain of bookshops with Asia Books and Bookazine) launched a new marketing campaign “Your destination is calling” to promote exclusive packages in some of Thailand’s most famous destinations.
“We have been for a long time fervent supporters of Thailand’s tourism through the sale of guide books and coffee table books about the Kingdom. But we wanted to do more and also to put back bookshops into the traveller’s mind”, explains Ms. Nuntawan Suwandej, Managing Director of Asia Books Co. Ltd.
Wayne Buckingham, Senior Executive Vice President of TCC Hotels Group sees an opportunity for his Group “to support Thailand tourist industry, especially in the domestic and inbound market. I strongly believe Thailand is still one of the greatest destinations to explore and it is our please as hotel professionals to show the world the unique beauty, services and experiences.”
Asia Books and Bookazine shoppers will be able to acquire hotel vouchers for the unique packages sold under the campaign “Your Destination is Calling” for one of two nights accommodations including breakfast/ set dinner for 2 as well as eventually an airport transfer at Imperial Hotel property in Phuket, Samui, Hua Hin or Chiang Mai. The packages are available until the end of September. The package will include a special discount for the purchase of a Lonely Planet Guide Book.
“This is just a beginning and we will see how it goes. We chose this time to promote packages to hotels which are easily accessible to anyone at well-known Thai destinations,” tells Frederick Arul, Executive Vice President Asset Management of TCC HG.
“We actually feel that this is a good move to expand the travel experience to new booking channels. Although we estimate that we will probably be able to sell some hundreds packages for now, we would love to renew this experience. By including more hotels, especially to secondary destinations in the country but also by maybe integrating other shops”, he adds.
Is the idea of selling travel packages at bookstores also to celebrate Bangkok title of “World Book Capital”, a title conferred by UNESCO to the city? “I was not aware of this”, admits Mr. Arul. Most of Bangkok people or tourists did not noticed it as well. But this is another story…
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.
