News Forum - Thailand scoops top honours in travel awards including Koh Samui

[Thaiger]

Thailand has cemented its status as a premier travel destination, sweeping the Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific 2024. Koh Samui has been crowned the Best Island in the Asia Pacific, while Samui Airport secured a commendable fourth place among the region’s best airports. Bangkok also emerged victorious, being named the Best City in … …

The story Thailand scoops top honours in travel awards including Koh Samui as seen on Thaiger News.

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[AussieBob]

Bought and paid for by TAT. 

[Marc26]

23 hours ago, AussieBob said:

Bought and paid for by TAT. 

Why?

 

I know people like to bag on Thailand but it's been Asia's biggest tourist destination(or one of them) for decades 

 

So people obviously rate it high....

 

And the categories they won are conceivable 

 

I'm not a massive fan but people love Samui, one of the winners 

 

And Bangkok is universally ranked as one of the top cities in Asia, which I agree wholeheartedly on that one...

 

So hardly anything TAT had to pay for, IMO

[AussieBob]

On 6/24/2024 at 9:57 AM, Marc26 said:

Why?

I know people like to bag on Thailand but it's been Asia's biggest tourist destination(or one of them) for decades 

So people obviously rate it high....

And the categories they won are conceivable 

I'm not a massive fan but people love Samui, one of the winners 

And Bangkok is universally ranked as one of the top cities in Asia, which I agree wholeheartedly on that one...

So hardly anything TAT had to pay for, IMO

The company provide an online service to travel readers, and they have advertising and revenue streams from readers and contributors. If you believe that an organisation that started awards in 2023 is credible, then that is up toy you.  Their awards are one of many many industry awards that are if not directly for sale, are very heavily influenced by advertising revenues.

Travel + Leisure Asia Thailand - Asia's Most Influential Travel Magazine (travelandleisureasia.com)

The ad on their first page about Thailand was paid for by TAT - as are many others. Yes, Thailand is a great place to visit and has had a surge in visitors/tourists this year to again be the number one in SEAsia. But I dont believe any 'awards' that are published by organisations that receive advertising revenues from vested interests. 

[Marc26]

6 hours ago, AussieBob said:

The company provide an online service to travel readers, and they have advertising and revenue streams from readers and contributors. If you believe that an organisation that started awards in 2023 is credible, then that is up toy you.  Their awards are one of many many industry awards that are if not directly for sale, are very heavily influenced by advertising revenues.

Travel + Leisure Asia Thailand - Asia's Most Influential Travel Magazine (travelandleisureasia.com)

The ad on their first page about Thailand was paid for by TAT - as are many others. Yes, Thailand is a great place to visit and has had a surge in visitors/tourists this year to again be the number one in SEAsia. But I dont believe any 'awards' that are published by organisations that receive advertising revenues from vested interests. 

Fair enough 

 

But my point was that the awards they won are very feasible 

[AussieBob]

14 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Fair enough 

But my point was that the awards they won are very feasible 

Fair enough - they are feasible - and TAT pays to advertise with the organisation that have the awards.

 

[Marc26]

1 hour ago, AussieBob said:

Fair enough - they are feasible - and TAT pays to advertise with the organisation that have the awards.

I think that's their job actually......

 

And as much as people bag on TAT, Thailand has been one of the top tourist destinations for decades

So they must be doing something right 

[AussieBob]

24 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I think that's their job actually......

And as much as people bag on TAT, Thailand has been one of the top tourist destinations for decades

So they must be doing something right 

True - but it aint really  'news' that they 'won' a travel award from an organisation they pay money to for travel advertising.

Things are changing and Thailand is in decline - not so much in numbers due to many from China, India and Russia, but in terms of money from each one on average.   Meanwhile Japan had 3 million in April and another 3 million in May (both records) - and on target to get even more in June.  Thailand has had less numbers than Japan in all of those 3 months - that has never happened before. IMO the low Yen has made what was previously too expensive, now a viable location. The Thai baht is still fairly high and other factors (instability, dangers, etc.) have made Thailand less attractive than before, when there was not a real alternative. Lots of factors will affect tourism in Thailand, but right now if the war finished and Russians stopped/left, and China stopped so many coming here, then the numbers and revenues will both be lower.  World tourism to Thailand (especially Europe, USA/Can and Oceania) has decreased for a lot of reasons that will take a while to be addressed.