TAT banking on new behavioural database

The project will make it easier for the 53-year-old agency to map out its marketing plan for expanding the number of quality tourists and achieving Bt2.2 trillion in overall tourism revenue in 2015, which is a policy objective of the government.

So far, the TAT has set up an information-technology system, initially costing Bt5 million, to build up data as part of its social customer-relationship management.

Having a strong behavioural database would help the agency to more precisely target potential visitors from market to market at a time of fast-changing habits driven by innovative technology, said Silachai Surai, executive director for the TAT’s Information Technology Office.

The move would also help maintain Thailand as a regional tourism destination and achieve its ambition next year to achieve third place in the region in terms of tourism earnings, behind China and Hong Kong. At present, the Kingdom is ranked fourth, behind Macau.

A number of countries, especially Singapore, have been competing head-on to get a larger slice of the tourism cake to drive their economies, and have clearly started cashing in on technology to help them achieve that goal, he said.

Possession of a detailed database allows them to know what tourists from segment to segment like to do, from their spending and shopping habits, to where they go.

Silachai said the TAT had long collected tourist information only in the form of statistics, and not about people’s behaviour.

This will change, however, when the new database system is completed this September, and then continuously updated, he added.

Information will be collected both from local tourists attending TAT activities and also at international tourism fairs, including the world-leading “ITB” in Berlin. Domestically, data from more than 100,000 local tourists will be gathered.

A duplicate data system will enable officials to double-check tourist profiles to ensure the correctness of the information, he said.

This year, the TAT projects 24.5 million foreign tourist arrivals. It is putting a big effort into attracting more quality visitors from both existing and new markets, in order to increase tourism revenue.

Spas, wellness, weddings, honeymooning and golf are at the forefront of the services to attract high-income spenders.

India is one of the markets in focus. Many Indians like to organise wedding ceremonies in Thailand, with some rich families even booking an entire hotel for a ceremony.

It is, therefore, essential for the TAT to know this market deeply in order to provide exactly what they want, Silachai said.

TAT banking on new behavioural database