Bangkok – Thailand’s delegations, led by Mrs. Juthaporn Rerngronasa, Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) Acting Governor and Deputy Governor for International Marketing – Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas, recently presented the kingdom’s wide range of luxury tourism products and services suitable for both weddings and honeymoons at the Destination Wedding Planners Congress 2015, which was be held from April 14-15 at Lux Belle Mare Hotel in the Republic of Mauritius.
Mrs. Juthaporn said, “TAT participates in the Destination Wedding Planners Congress with an aim of promoting Thailand as a world-class venue for both weddings and honeymoons. We keep the market up-to-date with Thailand’s latest tourism offerings, especially the kingdom’s ever-increasing range of luxury tourism products and services as well as offering the opportunity for representatives from Thailand’s wedding tourism sector to meet with international travel trade partners attending the show.”
This year marks TAT’s second presence at the Destination Wedding Planners Congress. Last year’s participation was also a success with Thai delegates securing up to eight business appointments per day with a total of 30 buyers (wedding planners, wedding designers and event organisers) from potential markets; such as, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Monaco, Italy, India, China and Singapore.
Mrs Juthaporn said, “TAT recognises the potential of the wedding tourism segment as it helps generate revenue to the Thai economy, both directly to the tourism industry and to the grassroots level. In expanding the destination wedding market, we see the opportunity to increase income for various business sectors – transportation, accommodation, venues, food and beverages, local supplies, and so on.”
Thailand is one of the world’s popular wedding and honeymoon destinations, an acclaim that is backed by several awards and honours. Earlier this year, Thailand was named Asia’s Sexiest Romance/Honeymoon Destination by the US-based Recommend Magazine’s readers, and one of the world’s Best Honeymoon Destinations for 2015 by Fordors.com. In addition, the paradise island of Samui was listed by Veryfirstto.com as one of the top ten romantic destinations in the world alongside cities; such as, Paris and Venice.
Thailand has been a popular honeymoon destination among newlyweds from Europe, South Korea, and Taiwan. In recent years, the country has also seen an increasing numbers of weddings from India.
The international wedding and honeymoon market in Thailand valued at around 30 billion Baht per year, or about three per cent of the overall tourism revenue.