London:GTA launches social media campaign to drive travel to Thailand after explosion

Major social media campaign to maintain Thailand’s tourism popularity following Bangkok explosion which caused a fall in visitor numbers

Giving away 10,000 free #ThailandStrongerTogether t-shirts

Encourages travellers to upload photos and inspiring captions to Instagram

#ThailandStrongerTogether reminds travellers of their power to support local communities, jobs and economies by continuing to visit Thailand where travel and tourism generates 19% of GDP

Responsible for bringing more than 1.2 million tourists to Thailand last year, GTA expects to top that figure in 2015 thanks to this campaign

Global travel distributor GTA today (21 September 2015) launches a major campaign to help maintain Thailand’s popularity as a tourist destination. Announced at Siam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the ‘Stronger Together’ campaign will increase awareness of the appeals of Bangkok and Phuket, highlight value for money accommodation and drive visits to the destination from key markets in Asia and the Middle East.

The campaign will engage travellers already visiting Thailand with a t-shirt giveaway featuring Iyara the Asian elephant, a national symbol of the destination, and the hashtag ThailandStrongTogether. 10,000 specially designed, limited edition t-shirts will be given to travellers staying at promoted hotels. The ‘stronger together’ message reminds travellers of their ability to support local communities and economies by continuing to visit Thailand. GTA and TAT will encourage them to take selfies while wearing the t-shirts and become a ‘social media army’ raising support of the destination. They will be asked to post their pictures to Instagram with inspiring or motivational captions: the best one will win a three-day trip to Thailand with GTA.

Responsible for bringing more than 1.2 million tourists to Thailand last year, GTA distributes accommodation options, ‘in destination’ services and a rich range of experiences to a network of tens of thousands of travel agents worldwide. For this campaign, its extraordinary reach will target travel agents in cities in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and other parts of the Middle East.

Daryl Lee, GTA’s Regional Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, says: “With 40 years in business powering global travel, GTA can help Thailand’s tourism industry welcome back customers from around the world. Although the explosion affected bookings in August and September, by the end of the year we think the Stronger Together campaign will have brought Thailand more visitors than in 2014.

“Thanks to the longstanding partnerships we have with the hospitality and travel trade, we have brought together the destination’s hotels and attractions to drive even stronger awareness that there is no reason to postpone a visit.”

The first high level, large-scale, public- and private-sector collaboration led by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and GTA, the month-long ‘Thailand, Stronger Together’ campaign comes after the explosion at a popular tourist site in Bangkok in the height of the holiday season, which caused a fall in visitor numbers. The ‘Thailand, Stronger Together’ theme reminds the world of the role that travel can play to support jobs and prosperity, particularly in Thailand where travel and tourism generates 19% of the country’s GDP1.

In the first seven months of 2015, the number of people visiting Thailand thanks to GTA’s industry partnerships rose by 58%. Its strong reputation in China, Hong Kong and Singapore particularly has seen the number of passengers more than double from each of these source markets. Now GTA has leveraged these longstanding partnerships with the hospitality and travel trade to agree a series of special offers and deals for travel between 22 September and 31 October 2015. They include 32 three- to five-star hotels2 offering two-night stays for the price of one (Stay-2, Pay-1) and, in some properties, discounted food and drink too, as well as up to 50% off airport transfers and sight-seeing tours.

Hotels in the ‘Thailand, Stronger Together’ campaign are:

1BangkokCourtyard Bangkok2BangkokCrowne Plaza Lumpini Park 3BangkokGrande Centre Point Ploenchit4BangkokHoliday Inn Bangkok 5BangkokHotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless6BangkokIn Residence Bangkok7BangkokLIT Bangkok Hotel 8BangkokRadisson Suites Bangkok9BangkokShangri-la Bangkok10BangkokSiam Kempinski Hotel Bangkok11BangkokSt. Regis 12BangkokSwissotel Nai Lert Park 13BangkokThe Peninsula Bangkok14BangkokTower Club At Lebua15BangkokWestin Grande Sukhumvit16PhuketAndaman Embrance Resort & Spa17PhuketAddplus Hotel & Spa18PhuketAvista Hideway Resort & Spa19PhuketAvista Hotels and Resorts20PhuketBel Aire Resort21PhuketDouble Tree Resort by Hilton Phuket22PhuketMovenpick Resort Bangtao Beach23PhuketNovotel Phuket Resort24PhuketNovotel Phuket Vintage Park25PhuketPatong Beach Hotel and Baan Samui Resort26PhuketRadisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach27PhuketRegent Phuket Cape Panwa28PhuketSunsuri Phuket29PhuketThavorn Beach Village Resort & Spa Phuket30PhuketThavorn Palm Beach Resort Phuket31PhuketThe Old Phuket32PhuketWoraburi Resort & Spa

Powering global travel, GTA provides ground travel products and services for fully independent travel, supporting the biggest and best in travel. Part of the Kuoni Group, GTA is trusted to deliver because of its wealth of experience, privileged relationships and on the ground expertise. Its technology solutions easily connect travel suppliers and sellers worldwide. As well as its XML, booking sites – GTA retail, TravelCube and Travel Bound, as well as GTA wholesale – process over 21,000 bookings daily, in more than 25 languages. Connect now with GTA. www.gta-travel.com

Source : Sachin Murdeshwar