Below is a summary of the Destination Contextual Marketing project on making Thailand a more competitive destination.
How can Thailand through destination marketing create and sustain a competitive advantage?
Based off of Dwyer’s and Kim’s model of Destination Competitiveness our group created this model to make Thailand more competitive through marketing and a focus on tourism visit and intend to revisit as an outcome.
Model
This project used desk research to collect and analyze the appropriate qualitative data for Thailand’s marketing. Our group specifically used the PESTEL model and the Hofstede metrics.
In Thailand we found their Destination Management Organization, Tourism Authority of Thailand, have been spreading the economic advantage of tourism throughout Thailand and have been very involved in many different aspects of tourism in Thailand. Also, the competitive advantage of Thailand comes from their beautiful nature, year-round nice weather, authentic culture and food choices which creates their strong national brand. Furthermore, Thailands current destination marketing strategy uses the slogan “Amazing Thailand” and need to manage themselves to have a stable brand identity for their target market.
The existing and largest target market for Thailand is Chinese tourists. China has a history of traveling to Thailand because Thailand was the first Approved Destination Scheme in China in 1988 and there is a history of immigration and connection of family and friends between China and Thailand. Chinese are motivated to come to Thailand because of the ease of location and the rise of the middle class in China. Chinese have a high intent to revisit Thailand which is positively influenced because of the environmental bubble they experience while in Thailand.
The new alternative market for Thailand is Sweden. Sweden has a positive historic relationship with Thailand through the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce & Navigation and a strong Thai immigration presence in Sweden. Swedes motivation to come to Thailand comes from the positive currency rate, the positive year-long climate, and the abundance of outdoor activities in Thailand which is a strong preference for Swedish tourists.
Our group found two main challenges for the current marketing strategy of Thailand. First, the current slogan Amazing Thailand needs to be more focused on different target markets, for example, for the Swedish market it would highlight outdoor activities for the Swedish market.
The second challenge is the trend of Zero-Dollar Commission trend for Chinese markets, where the money flows back to China and not into Thailand tourism sector. Our group recommends to increase policies for Chinese markets to ensure the flow of money into Thailand tourism sector and create a larger role for Thai tour operators.
Through these two recommendations, Thailand will be a more competitive destination.
Chelsea's Travels 