The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is introducing a new campaign aiming to extend the South Korean tourist base by attracting more teenagers and young working people to Thailand. It is entitled, “Come to Thailand, Let’s Take A Break”, and heart-throb singing star Nichkhun Horvejkul is its presenter.

Weerasak Kowsurat, Chairman of TAT’s Board of Directors, acknowledged that Thailand’s tourism industry has bean hit hard by the global economic slowdown and the spread of type-A flu.

TAT has been active in conducting campaigns to promote Thailand as a popular tourism destination for Asian tourists, especially from South Korea. The number of South Korean tourists in 2008 was 607,071, or 6.16 per cent of all East Asian visitors.

“Koreans usually like to travel abroad in July or August, Thailand’s low tourist season, and their preferred destinations are Pattaya, Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Samui,” he said. There are 86 direct flights from South Korea to Thailand by five airlines — THAI, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Orient Thai and SkyStar.”

TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications Juthaporn Rerngronasa said that “Come to Thailand, Let’s Take A Break” would raise awareness of Thailand as a tourist destination where visitors will find a wide variety of enjoyable holiday experiences at affordable prices. The target of this campaign, in addition to existing tourist groups, are young people of the same age as the presenter Nichkhun.

“Nichkhun is a young man who is building his reputation as a member of 2PM, the popular Korean band, so he will be communicating directly to our target groups and encouraging more young people in Korea to discover our country. This may begin from 2PM fans and will then spread out to a wider public,” said Juthaporn.

The TAT commercial for the campaign shows Nichkhun playing golf, Thai boxing and going to traditional festivals, showing that Thailand has many beautiful natural resources and tourist attractions and a unique culture.

TAT is promoting the campaign through the specially created website www.nichkhunbreak.com, online communities, Nichkhun’s fan websites and popular entertainment websites. Booklets have been published to provide information for younger tourists, its contents include Let’s Play. Let’s Have Fun, Let’s Relax, Let’s Taste and Let’s Go Shopping. There will also be a “tracking Nichkhun” activity for Korean fans.

“Potential visitors from Korea will learn that Thailand is a world-famous tourist destination with beautiful natural resources, culture and traditions, and lots of activities for tourists as well as a cuisine that’s an international favourite,” said Juthaporn.

In an interview, Nichkhun said that he was pleased and honoured to be appointed as Thailand’s representative to promote this campaign.

“I had a lot of fun filming the commercial playing golf, boxing, diving and visiting many places to show the charm of Thailand,” he said. “Whether you love adventure or relaxing travel, this is a country with so many good things to discover.”

“Thailand’s tourism may not improve quickly in the continuing negative environment, but TAT is already preparing for the future expansion of the economy and the industry,” said Weerasak. “And we are collaborating fully with all government measures to regain tourist confidence over questions concerning Type A flu and tourist safety.”