Thailand to woo more Korean visitors

BANGKOK, March 25 (TNA) - The state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to attract more Korean visitors to the Thai Kingdom over the next three years through its cooperation with Korean tourism agencies. TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn told journalists on Thursday that TAT has targeted to draw more South Korean arrivals to Thailand by 10 per cent, or some 500,000, within the next three years, from last year's 1.37 million to about 1.8 million, the 4th highest after those from China, Japan and the United States. To meet the target, Yuthasak inked memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) and the Korea Association of Travel Agent (KATA) in Seoul, South Korea's capital, on March 24, under which TAT will cooperate with the two South Korean agencies on the exchange of tourism personnel and cultural cooperation programmes, as well as relevant training programmes and joint hosts of tourism activities. Yuthasak said TAT cooperation with KATA will focus on the joint promotion of tourism markets, such as inviting tourism businesses and media to publicise tourism information in order to attract more Korean visitors to Thailand and they may later travel to Japan's Fukuoka, or to Lao PDR or Vietnam. Yuthasak noted that TAT will also support the development of an online tourism application on mobile phone systems to facilitate South Koreans' travels in Thailand and to promote producing Korean films at tourist attractions across Thailand in order to draw in more Korean and other foreign tourists to the Thai Kingdom. Meanwhile, a Korean top movie star, Song Joong Ki, will reportedly visit Thailand later this year, under the KTO sponsor, to help promote both South Korean and Thai tourism. (TNA)