THE TOURISM Authority of Thailand and China’s Baidu aim to boost “quality” tourists from China and improve tourism earnings by 35.4 per cent to Bt509 billion this year.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said yesterday that the authority aimed to restructure the market by expanding to high-end tourists from various cities of China including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing and Chengdu.
This collaboration will allow TAT to reach this target group directly and rapidly.
"Through this effort with Baidu, Chinese tourists will have a wealth of information even before their departure and can always find more information upon their arrival in Thailand," he said.
Hu Yong, general manager for global business of Baidu, said the agreement signed yesterday would help stimulate tourism in Thailand even further and also support systematic, accurate and quality information for Chinese tourists.
"This elevates the relationship of our two countries to the next level," he said.
It paves the way for the two nations to enhance communication channels online to promote tourism to the people of China.
"TAT and Baidu will publish tourism products and services information for tourists to [plan] their trips seamlessly, encompassing destinations and tourism products," Yuthasak said.
Baidu is ready to support and share information beneficial to Thailand, such as the trends of Chinese tourists. This will help the efforts to adapt and innovate tourism strategies in the future, he said.
The Chinese company also offers Baidu Maps, a modern mapping-service technology that helps Chinese people experience travel abroad. The locations of tourist attractions, restaurants, products and services in Thailand are now easily accessible via Baidu Maps, which counts more than 500 million users.
Baidu Maps is another channel for Thai businesses can use to reach a wider Chinese audience.
Baidu is a leading provider of Chinese search engines as well as a developer of various applications to enhance online searches.
It also provides an array of platforms for businesses in various fields. There are an estimated 10 billion searches per day.
TAT and Baidu will work together on the "Amazing Romance in Thailand" project for next month by compiling information on locations related to love and romance, such as 100 love-confession spots, 100 honeymoon places and 100 wedding destinations.
For the "Women's Journey" project, there will be a push notification on Baidu Maps, welcoming Chinese tourists to Thailand.
Information on the shops and businesses participating in the project and the privileges for women tourists will be provided throughout August.
They will also cooperate on promoting a "Smart Guide" project containing information about key tourist attractions in audio form as well as a video with "Tips for a Happy Holiday in Thailand".
Baidu's shares have been trading on the Nasdaq stock market in the United States under the ticker symbol "BIDU" since 2005.
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