Objective
The object of the research is to determine the number, identity, educational needs and potential business impact of UK tourists who visit Thailand. To investigate the travel patterns of UK tourists pided by sort of traveling such as members of group tours, traveling by themselves, and business and analysis in different group what purpose they visit. To be able to analyze the factors affecting why they chose Thailand as their tourist destination or why they prefer other countries.
It will also analyze various appropriate strategies on how to promote Thailand in UK. In line with the aspects of marketing, this facet is about the communication aspect. Through this, promotion is given importance. It is the main object of the study. It basically analyzes the prospect of a European from a First World Country visiting an Asian country, particularly a country situated in Southeast Asia.
The specific goals of the research are as follows. First, this paper aims to provide a theoretical framework that will explain the promotional aspect of tourism campaigns. Second, it aims to reveal the factors that would make Britons pay a certain amount of money in exchange for traveling in Thailand. Third, it seeks to account for the desire to travel in Asian countries, if the traveler is European. What is in Asia that is not in Europe? Specifically, what is in Thailand that is not in the United Kingdom?
Through the accomplishment of these goals, the researcher hopes that the knowledge on the promotional aspect of tourism campaigns will grow. It will hopefully help tourism agencies in persuading prospective travelers to journey to different countries. It also encourages the exploitation of the privileges offered by globalization. The ease of transportation allows one easily to become a citizen of the world.
Finally, this paper attempts to be critical about the competition going on among tourism agencies. It seeks to give some agencies the competitive edge in promoting their products, which are the places to be visited.
Abstract
The subtleties in sensations offered by the Land of the City of Angels (Bangkok), Thailand, is yet to draw the full attention of the tourists of the world in general and in particular the UK tourists which is the obsessed focus of this research. Not to be ignored as invariable and apparent are the mystic sceneries offered by beaches and landscapes in Thailand, a country inhabited to the extent of 90% by feather touch peace loving people following Buddhism as their religion, the very basic tenet being non-violence which puts at rest the dangers of hitherto untread lands. However over the past couple of years tourism in Thailand has been affected by its very own natural gift, the nature, in the form of Tsunami which has eaten into the tourism revenues of the country.
Thailand’s loss is put at as high as US$1.2 billion due to this natural disaster according to official estimates. But still the land holds its promise for holidaying and vacations as good as before. As much as the major events and activities include ping, golf, honeymoon, shopping, spa and health, trekking, beaches, Thai events, cooking and the Orient Express among others. Adding to the tropical climate is the amiable nature of people and the infectious smile one gets to wear upon as one traverses this beautiful country. Moreover the value proposition offered to UK tourists in particular such as no visas required for Englishmen and English being the second native language are factors attractive enough for them to consider Thailand as the foremost destination for their tourist interests. The objective then of this research is to tap into the preferences and priorities of the UK tourists vis-à-vis their general traveling interests and their expectations out of traveling to Thailand as one of their prime tourist destination.
Purpose of the Research
While the basic aim of this research is to ensure increase in traffic of UK tourists to Thailand the purpose of this research could be several. Some of them are as below:
- This research paper may help Thailand’s tourism agencies in marketing the benefits of visiting the country to the British people.
- It may be used as a source of information regarding market demographics, because it provides extensive data about what kinds of tourists Britons are. This will help the tourism agencies because one principle of marketing is customer orientation.
- If tourism agencies are oriented towards serving their customers, then what they have to do is to gather as much information about their customers as possible. From there, they begin executing promotional strategies to arrest the customers’ attention.
- Through this research the policies that are to be adopted by government of Thailand and the tourism department to promote conservation tourism with measures such as security policy, budgetary supports can be explored which will allay the fears of loss of life and property lingering in the minds of prospective tourists.
Research Design and Methodology
This research paper is both qualitative and quantitative. It is qualitative because the objects of the study are the different forms of mass media. These media are discussed in the point of view of a communication practitioner, or someone taking up communication or cultural studies. Their effects are taken into consideration. The research is also quantitative owing to the fact to that about 200 people from North London the prime tourist interest groups resident in UK are being interviewed and their views sought. Apart from media word-of-mouth is an effective campaign and traffic puller for more tourists to Thailand considering the fact that average UK tourist traffic to Thailand was in the one million par range.
However it is also theoretical because it makes use of Marshall McLuhan’s technological determinism to support its assumption that the only way to persuade UK tourists to visit Thailand is through the intervention of mass media. Television, radio, film, and the print medium are different kinds of media that may be employed in order to obtain the desired effect of the tourism agency manager.
This is to say that the method done is phenomenological and sociological. It is phenomenological because the basic and natural characteristics of the tools of promotion are discussed. For instance, in radio, its effects on the senses are analyzed, and what possibilities can the message take form through its nature as a medium.
The paper also uses a sociological methodology because these promotional devices are important in shaping social formation. If advertisement and marketing are two forces of social formation, then mass media are the tools. The sociological approach comes when the research analyzes about the right kinds of mechanisms needed to achieve the desired effect, which is to persuade UK tourists to visit Thailand.
The organization of the research paper begins first by a typology of tourists. This crucial theory of the typology of tourists determines the direction of the whole paper. The kinds of tourists shape the kinds of promotional strategies to be undertaken, and the kinds of promotional strategies to be undertaken shape the kinds of mass media to be utilized in promoting the product.
The nature of the British tourists is discussed after the typology. Then it is followed by a discussion on what sorts of places they may want to visit, wherein there is a symbiotic existence between the tourists and the persons visited. Thus, in this part, the research designs the study in such a way that both the tourist and the visited people are taken into consideration.
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis
In England, UK tourists spend a total of 9,992 million lyres for tourism. In Wales, the Britons spend 248 million lyres. In Scotland, there are 757 million lyres. In Northern Ireland, 100 million lyres. In the whole of the United Kingdom, 11,167 million lyres are being spent for tourism alone.
This is a good sign that the tourism industry is not hopeless. It is very alive. There are a lot of possible customers for tourism packages. Because the budget of the people reach million lyres, it will be easy for Thailand tourism agencies to persuade UK tourists to spend a part of their budget in visiting their country.
Theoretical Framework
Marshall McLuhan’s technological determinism, demonstrated in his book entitled “Understanding Media: the Extensions of Man”, is an appropriate theoretical framework for this study. First of all, the researcher decides to include the indispensability of the kinds of mass media to be used in promotional strategies. The nature of the media is a discussion that necessitates the inclusion of Marshall McLuhan’s philosophy and sociology of culture.
He suggests that media are extensions of man’s senses. The radio is an extension of man’s capability of hearing. The print medium is an extension of man’s memories. The television is an extension of man’s sight. Many other media are based from man’s extensions of himself.
References
Tsunami Bill nears $ 3 billion, April 2005, Travel Industry Monitor.