Business Situation

Analysis
A Report on
THAILAND

Prepared For: Mr. R. Venkatraman

Prepared by: Mr.Nakul Behal
Mr. Chirag Bharucha
Mr. Suresh Bansal

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1
Products offered by Thailand..............................................................................2
The pricing strategies are based on three strategies:........................................2
Service concept.................................................................................................. 2
Key market communication strategies...............................................................2
Positioning strategy......................................................................................... 2
Current Promotional and Distribution Strategy................................................2
Main target markets of Thailand are................................................................3
FACTS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT THAILAND!!!.............................................3
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THAILAND.................................................6
MARKETING ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS.............................................................7
MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)...........................................................7

Internal Records........................................................................................ 8

Marketing Intelligence...............................................................................8

Marketing Research................................................................................... 8

Marketing Decision Support System..........................................................9

Organized Data accumulation...................................................................9

A wide point of view..................................................................................9

Important information can be stored........................................................9

Co-ordination............................................................................................ 9

Control...................................................................................................... 9

Analysis and Planning...............................................................................9

ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING............................................................................ 10
Types of Environmental Scanning..................................................................10
PESTEL ANALYSIS.............................................................................................. 11

Political Factors....................................................................................... 13

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.....................................................................14

SOCIAL FACTORS..................................................................................... 14

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS......................................................................16

ECONOMIC FACTORS............................................................................... 16

LEGAL FACTORS...................................................................................... 17

CURRENT SITUATION ANALYSIS.........................................................................18

SWOT ANALYSIS................................................................................................ 19
Target Market................................................................................................... 22
Marketing Mix................................................................................................... 22

Product.......................................................................................................... 23
Price.............................................................................................................. 24
Place.............................................................................................................. 24
Promotion...................................................................................................... 24
Market Segmentation:...................................................................................... 25
Geographic Segmentation................................................................................ 25
Demographic Segmentation.............................................................................26
Psychographic Segmentation........................................................................... 27
Market Sectors to specify product offered by Thailand.....................................28
Thailand new market segment.........................................................................28
A: Competitive Analysis..................................................................................30
Importance and influence of the business........................................................30
B: Competitive analysis for the business:.........................................................30
Key competitive advantages of Thailand and why........................................32
Relative market positioning of both the business and competitors...............33
Competitive strategy for current and future business...................................35
Conclusion:........................................................................................................ 36

INTRODUCTION
Thailand, the only Southeast Asian nation never to have been colonized by
European powers, is a constitutional monarchy whose current Prime
Minister is Prayut Chan-o-cha. A unified Thai kingdom has existed

since the mid-14th century, and Thailand was known as Siam until 1939
when it officially became the Kingdom of Thailand. With sixteen million
outsiders flying into the nation every year, Thailand is Asia's essential
travel destination and offers a large group of spots to visit. Yet regardless
of this, Thailand's social respectability remains generally undamaged a
nation that adeptly maintained a strategic distance from colonization has
possessed the capacity to retain Western impacts while keeping up its
own rich legacy. In spite of the fact that the tall structures and neon lights
possess the closer view of the traveller picture, the regular Thai group is
still the cultivating town, and you require not wander far to experience a
more customary scene of angling groups, elastic ranches and Buddhist
sanctuaries. Around forty percent of Thais procure their living from the
area, based around the staple rice, which structures the establishment of
the nation's exceptional and broadly advanced cooking.

Products offered by Thailand

Thailand has array of products to offer namely Culture tourism, Eco
tourism, Sex tourism, Medical tourism, Historical tourism, Recreational
tourism and shopping tourism.

The pricing strategies are based on three strategies:

-Product Development (New product for same market)
-Market Development (Same product for new market)
-Market Penetration (Increased sale of products in same market)

Service concept
Thailand is known for its culture, environment, Health care and shopping
markets. It has dedicated itself on setting world class standards in terms
of medical tourism. Tourist also visit Thailand for its art and culture. The
Thailand tourism authority is the organisation that works on Thailand to be
a globally recognised tourist destination.

Key market communication strategies

Positioning strategy
Thailand not only known a tourist destination but is also a well know
destination for transit. It is situated in the South East Asia, sharing borders
with Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia.

Current Promotional and Distribution Strategy

Thailand is promoting its tourism products through various channels such
as:

Advertisement.
Travel and Trade fairs.
Sponsorship.
Social Media.
Education fairs.

Main target markets of Thailand are:

India.
United Kingdom.
Australia.
South Korea.
Malaysia.
Japan.
China.
Singapore.
(Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2015)

Thailand being the most popular tourist destination of past years has
faced many challenges both politically and naturally. Boxing Day tsunami
in the year 2004 is still fresh in the minds of tourist and the local
population which completely shattered the dreams of the tourism
authority of Thailand. Although Thailand is a powerful country but due to
political imbalances in past and present affects the implementation of
rules and regulation designed by tourism department. Recent martial law
in Bangkok is such an example. There has been certain cases identified in
recent of women molestation, together which contributes to the tourist
destination selection process.
Every aspect regarding religion, culture, history, people, geographical
location are being discussed in this report. But before that there are some
interesting facts which most of us do not know. Let us have a quick look:-

FACTS YOU DIDNT KNOW ABOUT

THAILAND!!!

(Rough Gides, 2015)

ENVIRONMENTAL
ANALYSIS OF
THAILAND
BY NAKUL BEHAL (4148030)

MARKETING ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS

A procedure for recognizing all outside and inside components that can
influence the execution of plan of the company or organization and
assessing the level of risk or opportunity they introduce. Opportunity and
risk appraisals are then consolidated into options for improving the
standards keeping in mind the end goal to adjust methodologies to the
organizations surroundings (InvestorWords, n.d.).
An organization is highly influenced by, socio-cultural, technological,
economic, legal, ecological, political, natural and global factors (Hsu,
Killion, Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008). Environmental analysis helps in
understanding the impact of these components on the business. Any
associations which reliably examine these components are more fruitful
than who does not. It brings out the main issues out of the box and allows
the organization to pay more attention towards those problems and create
methods to earn profit through these opportunities which were earlier
adding to loss.
Thailand is a wondrous kingdom, stressing Buddhist sanctuaries, havens
and gigantic islands. Nearby a captivating history and a noteworthy
society Thai food is luscious and massages are incredibly famous.
Thailand highlights a current present day city, and genial people who
encapsulate Thailand's "territory of smiles" reputation. Managed by
stupendous limestone karst and brilliant differentiated shoreline, Thailand
transforms into a champion among the most appealing destinations on
the planet. Thailand is an extraordinary spot to unwind. The pace is
unhurried and numerous shorelines must be come to by pontoon. In later
past a large portion of visitor places in Thailand confronted traveller
smash because of political unevenness in Bangkok (Tourism Authority Of
Thailand, 2015).

MARKETING INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS)

Marketing Information System is a management information system which
helps marketing managers to support or help decision making to achieve
goals. MIS can further be defined as one which search and collects the
data from the environment and formulate this data into useful information
so that managers can make use of this information in making decisions.
This information are then filtered and presented before the management
(Proctor, 1991).
A Marketing Information System comprises of individuals, equipment and
techniques to accumulate, sort, examine, assess, and give required and
exact data to managers. The MIS starts and finishes with marketing

administrators; however managers are required to be associated with the

process throughout. Initially it understands the needs of managers to
evaluate their data. Next, it creates required data from companys internal
records, showcasing marketing exercises and the advertising exploration
process (Kotler, Bowen, & Makens, 2014).

The four major components in this figure can be effectively used by the
Thailand Authority of Tourism and Department Of Tourism in Thailand.
Internal Records - Thailand can enhance its tourism prospects
with the assistance of its inner information sources. It can keep a
look out for outbound and inbound guests. The interior report can
help them to accomplish their objective of economical tourism.
These records give current information which can be helpful to
Thailand Authority of Tourism as far as the tourism business;
universal landings by city, outbound takeoff are concerned. The
inward report can issue them the genuine information about what is
going on now and in what capacity would they be able to convey
changes to enhance the current circumstance. The report can help
them to know their target market and serve their visitor as it has an
edge over its rivals.
Marketing Intelligence - The information which is
accumulated from the external sources can't be used particularly. It
must be at first surveyed and composed in appropriately. It could be

then used by the advertising administrator for taking decisions and

making methodologies about showcasing (Kotler, Bowen, & Makens,
2014).
Marketing Research - It is the procedure of gathering,
examining and translating information about customers, contenders,
and the business environment keeping in mind the end goal to
enhance showcasing adequacy (Charbonneau & Stuart, 2009).
Thailand Authority of Tourism can also gather and examine the
information about the tourists and the destination which are
competition to Thailand and relating with the facilities provided in
Thailand.
Marketing Decision Support System - The fourth part of
MIS is "market support system". These devices help the advertising
heads to inspect the information data well and take up the right
decision. It generally incorporates refined factual and demonstrating
programming devices. (Charbonneau & Stuart, 2009).
The importance of Marketing Information System is as follows (Bhasin,
2015): Organized Data accumulation - Managers can gather
bundle of information from the market but importance is of the
organized information which is useful. Arranging information is
essential else the information is insignificant. Along these lines MIS
helps you to compose your database in this way enhancing profits.
A wide point of view - With a proper MIS set up, the complete
association can be followed which can be utilized to break down
autonomous techniques. These aides in creating a more extensive
viewpoint which helps us know which steps can be taken to
encourage change.
Important information can be stored - Important
information is readily available for use at any point of time.
Co-ordination - Numerous associations have immense number
of methodologies which needs to be co-ordinated. These
organizations depend totally on MIS for the best possible running of
the association. There are devoted individuals for showcasing data
frameworks in such associations.

 Control - MIS can help in an emergency, in typical times it gives

control as you have data of the different procedures going on and
what is occurring over the organization. Hence it furnishes you with
a feeling of control.
Analysis and Planning MIS stores a lot of information which
can be used to analyze current situations of the organization and
help to plan for further strategies as for planning accurate
information is required.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCANNING
Environmental scanning means the methodology of scrutinizing and
examining occasions and changes happening in the external situations.
The point of scanning process is to give far reaching data on the current
environment in which a business works. The data accumulated by the
scanning can be utilized to distinguish the urgent issues for the business
(Kumar, 2011) .

Types of Environmental Scanning:

Ad-hoc Scanning - Short term, infrequent examinations usually

initiated by a crisis This kind of scanning is usually adopted
whenever a crisis situation occurs and is for short term. In other
words we can say ad-hoc scanning is occasional with no set patterns
(Kumar, 2011). Thailand being politically unstable country and
recently faced martial law it should apply ad-hoc scanning to gather
data to overcome any such instability. Another example can be of
Boxing Day tsunami. After tsunami Tourism Authority of Thailand
opened gate for tourists who wanted to visit Thailand and se
tsunami affected areas mainly in Phuket.

Regular Scanning As the name suggest it is done on regular

intervals time to time to get updated data of tourists, their
demands, and products to offer. Thailand can use this strategy to
get yearly tourist statistics who are coming to visit the country. It

can give information on whom to target for their destinations and

who all are their competitors (Kumar, 2011).

Continuous Scanning It is the continuous and structured process

of data collection which helps the destination to have the latest and
specific data needed for development (Kumar, 2011). Thailand can
use this scanning in knowing about any tourism product to promote
or not to.

PESTEL ANALYSIS.
A PESTEL analysis is a tool used by organizations to analyze and monitor
the macro-environmental (external marketing environment) factors that
have an impact on an organization. The consequence of which is utilized
to distinguish strengths and weakness which is utilized as a part of a
SWOT analysis (Professional Academy, n.d.).
PESTEL stands for:

P = Political
E = Economic
S = Social
T = Technological
E = Environmental
L = Legal

(Slidemodel,
2015)

Factors

Political

Economical

Social

Areas of Concerns

Relevant Sources

Political Stability

Govt websites
Foreign Affairs
Ministry
International
conferences
Articles
local offices
Govt websites

Global relations
Funding
Trading Policies
Foreign exchange
Disposable income
tax issues
economic growth rates
Ethical issues/factors
lifestyle trends
consumer attitudes
Education
Health issues

TAT
websites
community services
Trade magazines
Industry Articles

Responsibiti
es

Reporting

Planning
Services

Thai
Government

Properties &
Rates

Ministry of
Commerce

Promoting
culture &
health

TAT

Technologic
al

Environme
ntal

Legal

Technological
development
Maturity of technology
Globalizations factors
consumer preferences
Patents
Environment issues
Market Value
customer value
Future legislation
Employment laws
consumer protection

News papers
local adds
Trade magazines
blogs
Government
approach
websites
Govt websites
Industry news

Procurement

Thai
Government

Promote ecofriendly
practices

Ministry of
Natural
resources and
environment

Policies &
Bylaws

Ministry of
justice

competitive regulation

Political Factors:
Travel and tourism is the major revenue earning source of Thailand.
Government plays an important role in development of any tourism
product or destination. It may incorporate enhanced transportation
offices, tourism offices and other base which will be gainful for local
occupants too. The fundamental thought behind the Government
underpins any organization is to produce more vocation, wage and
assessment income. Thai government has also introduced special
tourism website in which a tourist can look out for different
packages, things to do, climate, transportation, accommodations
(Krabi Information, n.d.). Although after the well-known Bangkok
protest against their government in 2013-14 tourist numbers have
decreased as many countries have launched advisories for their
citizens to be aware of local political imbalance. British government

has launched advisory recently stating the same (GOV.UK, 2015). A

tourist arrival figure for January 2014 released by Department of
Tourism confirms the extent of the damage caused by the political
unrest in Thailand. The total arrivals of 2,319,821 were virtually the
same as 2,318,447 in January 2013, meaning that a growth level
was really low as expected. Report shows that number decreased
from nearly all major countries: Chinese guest entries in January
2014 were down -8.65% over January 2013 to 309,731, Malaysia
down -9.52% to 182,760, Japan down -13.81% to 118,383, Korea
down -7.82% to 132,554 and India down -13.84% to 84,400. These
five nations are among the six that create more than one million
landings a year for Thailand. The main other million-figure nation to
spare the day was Russia which was up +22.82% to 262,729. UK
and France were the countries which showed a slight tourist
increase (Muqbil, 2014).
The government realized the situation and result to which following
steps emerged: As Bangkok was hit badly by the protestors which was
considered to be first point of landing in Thailand while Phuket
Airport grew strongly and became main point of entry for the
travelers. Simultaneously the island grew as a major tourist
attraction now.
Low cost Airlines now flying directly to the secondary cities
like Koh Samui, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai helped regional
governments to diversify their tourism and trade. (Muqbil,
2014)
Recent statistics from Department of Tourism of Thailand shows that
total arrivals of 2,654,634 in January 2015 has increased to that of
2,319,821 in January 2014 (Department of Tourism, 2015).

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
Ascending out of a provincial base to more industrialization,
Thailand now defies various common issues, particularly air
pollution, realizing unpleasant wellbeing results. The real wellspring
of air contaminations are vehicular contamination, burning of
biomass, modern pollution and releases and Trans boundary

dimness in provincial and fringe territories. (Vadakan & Vajanapoom,

2011).
The Boxing day tsunami 2004, is one of the worst hit natural
disaster in the history of Thailand which left nearly 5400 people
suffer their lives and 2800 people were never found (Ryall, 2014).
Since the tsunami hit Thailand's western coast on 26 December
2004, tourists have been few and far between. Tourism Authority of
Thailand introduced a disaster tourism which took people to badly
hit areas by tsunami in Phuket. Daily trips are being arranged to
Khao Lak to give traveller the experience of Tsunami hit areas. This
effort brought in revenue for Khao Lak and tourists volunteered help
to local people. This also triggered local tourists to see Khao Lak
now as compared to the previous one (McGeown, 2005).
Geographical factors affecting Thailand - Located in the
center of Southeast Asia, Thailand is genuinely at the heart of
the district encompassed by Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, and
Cambodia. Thailand is the 50th biggest nation on the planet,
most about equivalent in size to Spain. Spotted only 15
degrees north of the equator, Thailand has a tropical
atmosphere and temperatures ordinarily extend from 19 to 38
degrees C. Monsoon rain fall predominately from May to July
and cooler, drier climate happens around November and
December. It is this temperature that the travelers find
themselves comfortable in any part of Thailand.

SOCIAL FACTORS:
Social Class - The social and cultural impacts of tourism can
result in changes to living standards of the local community. It
may affect negatively, positively or both. Thailand has
changed dramatically with the increase of tourism. Islands of
Phuket and Pattaya especially has shown major changes in
terms of employment opportunities, infrastructure growth,
increased income of local people, more facilities and amenities
for the local people (Western Sydney Institute, n.d.). At the
same time local people have to face certain problems relating
to socio-cultural exchanges like increased prices of day to
commodities, rents go up, property buying cost rises,
problems of waste management arises, crowd management
problems.

However it can be learnt that it is because of cultural

exchanges between the tourists and the local people Thailand
has been able to maintain its traditional art forms and
younger members of the society are learning ethnic art forms.
Many educational schools have been started by the
government to attract and promote these courses. Thailand
tattoo artists are being recognized world wide and are major
source of income for many street artists in Phuket (Kanthima,
2015).

Customs and culture These are the behavioral examples

usually polished by a social or social gathering in a
specific geological range. Tourism Authority of
Thailand advances its way of life and respects the
visitor from world to see its conventions,
traditions, convictions and practices. Vacationer
visits Kayan town in Mae Hong Son in northwest of
Thailand to see the Kayan convention. Kayan
conventions extend back hundreds of years. One
of them is a real vacation destination in Mae Hong Son. Their
long neck ladies. From a youthful age, Kayan ladies include
metal rings around their necks that continuously make them
longer (Royal Geographical Society, n.d.).
Demography - It significantly influences tourist behavior. Age
is related to tourism in many respects. A younger and older
aged group will have more leisure time and tend to travel
more in comparison to middle aged group who are busier with
their work. Thailand provides opportunity for all the three
groups to enjoy. A younger aged group can enjoy outdoor
sports activities or nightlife while older people can just relax
and enjoy on the beaches or visit monasteries and at the
same time middle aged people can work and play.
Destinations like Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Krabi are
hottest MICE destination (TCEB, 2014).Gender also plays an
important factor in demography. Male tourist are more
independent and less sensitive to safety and looks to
participate more in outdoor recreation and sports activities
while the females look for safe, secure and comfortable
tourism. Women are more involved in cultural activities and
shopping activities. Thailand offers a range of sports and
outdoor activities like snorkeling, rafting, terrain biking,

camping and also offers a wide range of precious gems,

jewellery, leather goods and the famous Thai silk to shop on
the streets and inside big showrooms. Thailand has something
for all (Tourism Authority Of Thailand, 2015). Thailand is also
rich in culture and history and offers many museums like
Bangkok National Museum and Science Museum for better
educated travelers of the society who prefer activities like
that.
Religion The official religion of Thailand is Buddhism. Nearly
95% of Thai people follow Buddhism. Next popular is Islam
and is practiced by 4% Thai Muslims who are located in
southern parts of Thailand with the borders of Malaysia.
Hinduism, Christianity comes next and is majorly followed in
Bangkok where multi-cultural population resides. Religious
travelers from the world travel to Thailand to visit monasteries
out of which few in Chiang Mai are popular where they can
speak with monks and gain knowledge about Buddhism. Tiger
cave temple is one of the most prominent tourist attractions in
Thailand which one cannot miss (Tourism Authority Of
Thailand, 2015).

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS:
It is vital for each destination to keep upgraded with the innovation
and train its establishments to embrace that. As internet is getting
to be most critical apparatus for showcasing and client relationship.
Significantly this is the best correspondence channel to reach to the
tremendous and unlimited business sector. It likewise makes it
simpler for individuals to give the data with respect to the
distinctive item offering and openness. Thailand signatures
massages promoting health and fitness for more than 100 years
now see a change in technology itself and are now a very popular
tourist destination among medical tourists. Alone from medical
tourism Thailand has attracted 1.8 million foreign visitors in 2013
(Kanthima, 2015). Advancement in technology with cost effective
treatments has opened gate for medical tourism. Bangkok airport in
itself is the example of state of the art technological establishment.
Being one of the busiest transit destinations, Suvarnabhumi
International Airport has been accredited many awards for service. A
late post in nearby daily paper "Bangkok Post" affirms that
Immigration Police Bureau will introduce sixteen computerized
movement freedom machines to chop down long lines at the air
terminal by mid 2015 (Mahitthirook, 2015). Thailand is also the

home of many high rise buildings and is considered to be one of the

major economic zone of south east Asia.

ECONOMIC FACTORS:
Economic conditions influence the tourism industry of the country.
When the economy is solid or demonstrating consistent
development, travel and tourism exercises expands and when the
economy experiences a downturn or encounters challenges it is
likely the tourism business will contract. It can be said that tourism
industry of a country is directly proportional to the economic
condition of that country (Hsu, Killion, Brown, Gross, & Huang,
2008).

Thailand is a relatively economically developed nation. However,

while one of the chief tourist destinations in the world, the Thai
economy only receives around 7% of its GDP from international
tourism revenue, a figure which is nonetheless a substantial 550
billion Baht (nearly USD 16 billion). Thailands economy remains
export-dependent, with exports accounting for 60% of a GDP that
stood at roughly THB 7.7 trillion. Another important factor which
influences the tourists to travel to a destination is the currency of
that country. Thai Baht is comparatively cheaper or not that
expensive to most of the countries whos citizens travel most to
Thailand. For example A Chinese traveller will get 523.8 Thai Baht
for every 100 Chinese Yuan (XE, 2015).This also triggers the export
trade which is highly beneficial for the countries with a cheaper
currency. Thailands exports, worth approximately USD180 billion
per annum, consist primarily of agricultural products, including fish
and rice, the latter of which Thailand is the largest exporter of in the
world, as well as textiles, rubber, automobiles, jewellery, and
computers/electronic appliances (Tourism Authority Of Thailand,
2015). Thailand's political emergency has seriously influenced the
tourism industry. In 2013, Thai Airways International reported a loss
of 12 billion baht (US$ 369 million). In the previous three months,
the aerial shuttle reported the loss of an alternate 5.65 billion baht.
The Thai Hotel Association reported 50% occupancy in 2014 against
80% for 2013 (Asia News, 2014).

LEGAL FACTORS:
A nation legal system provides a framework for tourism industry to
develop. Tourism policies have direct impact on tourism businesses.
While travelling to Thailand, as in different countries, tourists ought

to submit to Thai laws. Indeed minor infringement can bring long

term prison and death penalties. Thai government introduced
Alcoholic Beverage Control Act in 2008 which increased alcohol
drinking age from 18 to 20 years. Thai customs department has also
become strict with more tourists visiting per year. The Customs
Department of the Kingdom of Thailand has very specific laws and
penalties regarding everything from alcohol to pirated DVDs to
currency (Patin, 2011). Prostitution is illegal in Thailand since 1960
however Entertainment Places Act of 1966 still in place till date
allows many go go bars, massage parlours, clubs which calls
prostitution as providing special service to the customers (Farmer,
2008). Child abuse and ivory smuggling is illegal in Thailand. A
tourist arrival to a destination also depends on the visa policies and
laws from the embassy. Royal Thai embassy grants visa on arrival to
many nationalities making it easier for the tourists to visit Thailand.
Many rules and regulations are made by the government on
granting the visa to these nationalities to which tourist must abide
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, n.d.).
Thailand has implemented a licensing system for tourism related
enterprises such as Thai airways, travel agencies. In order to meet
all the requirements set by the licensing system. Tourist guides are
also licensed and have to pass a certification examination in order
to legally practice the profession in a particular jurisdiction (Tourism
Authority of Tourism, 2015).

CURRENT SITUATION ANALYSIS

Situation analysis alludes to an accumulation of procedures that
managers utilize to dissect an organisation's internal and external
environment to comprehend the organisation's capacities, clients,
and business environment (Lorette, n.d.).

(Lorette, n.d.)

Thailand as a tourist hub needs to understand following situations

which are as follows:-

Product Situation Thailand needs to understand its product

which it has to offer to the tourist. It includes knowledge of the core
product and any secondary product .By understanding this it can
develop the product and satisfy the customers. Feedback is
important after the tourist has experienced the product or the
services.

Competitive Situation Thailand must know who are its

competitors in the market providing similar product and services.
Main competitors are Malaysia, Indonesia, and Cambodia. It has to
develop certain strategies to have edge over these countries.

Distribution Situation - Investigating conveyance of item into the

business likewise needs to be considered.

Environmental Factors These are factors, internal or external

needed to be considered time to time to increase the performance
of the product.

Opportunity and issue analysis It is also known as SWOT.

SWOT ANALYSIS
The SWOT analysis is an extremely useful tool
for understanding and decision-making for all
sorts of situations in business and
organizations. SWOT stands for Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats where
strengths and weaknesses are the internal factors and opportunities and
threats are the external factors (Hsu, Killion, Brown, Gross, & Huang,
2008).

SWOT analysis of Thailand (Business Monitor International,

2012).
Strengths of Thailand

Thailand profits from a reputation for being a standout amongst

the most appealing nations in the region.
A few tourism subsectors, especially beach tourism, have an in
number brand picture. For example Islands like Phi-Phi and James
bond islands have been used as shooting destinations b famous
Hollywood films like The Beach and James Bond series.
Thailand's economy has performed relatively well over the past
few years despite the stumbling block of political uncertainty,
although many challenges arguably remain.
Thailand's powerlessness to capital outflows has been lessened
significantly, with the nation now boasting a sizeable foreign
exchange reserve. This has altogether contracted the possibilities
of the 1997 emergency.
Great food, friendly people, culture, religion, temples and
monasteries, night life and many historical sites have brought in
many tourists.
Thailand international airport Suvarnabhumi International Airport
boasting itself to be a major transit point in the world which
nearly connects the world east to west and pacific region
(Business Monitor International, 2012).

Weaknesses of Thailand

Concerns have been raised that insufficient consideration has

been paid to the impacts of tourism on the nation's natural and
social legacy.
Thailand's political scene remains volatile.
The army is widely seen to still play an influential role in Thai
politics and recently Thailand was under the martial law (BBC,
2014).
The measure of workforce is moderately little, implying that
profit picks up could get to be progressively difficult to attain to
as the pool of cheap labor has shredded.
Traffic jams have been a major problem for the city with a
reputation of bad transport system.

Opportunities of Thailand

The government has started backing tourism business and its

products. The future looks encouraging. An emphasis on
enhancing transport connections and advancing tourism for the
Green Season is required to be massively useful. Concentration

on eco-tourism is massive step (Business Monitor International,

2012).
Low cost airlines enhancing the access to remote regions and
islands of Thailand like Phi Phi, Koh Samui, Krabi (Tourism
Authority Of Thailand, 2015).
Thailand is now showcasing its outdoor adventure opportunities
like sailing, paddling, diving, snorkeling in the sea, trek to
villages, driving all-terrain vehicles.

Threats of Thailand

Thailand tourism is majorly threatened by nature. Its closed

proximity with the sea it is always prone to tsunami like one
happened in Dec 2004. It has caused a major setback in the
minds of the tourist and affected their travelling plans (Ryall,
2014).
Thai tourism is always under threat of political unrest. The
current political circumstance presents dangers to more
extensive political solidness given the apparently unmanageable
pressure between the poor and the upper classes (Hookway,
2014).
Thailand's political tension dangers harming its allure to
international investors, who may pick to send their capital in
more steady local contenders for example, Vietnam and
Indonesia (Business Monitor International, 2012).
The world economic drop or recession will directly impact
Thailand export industry which directly affects their economy
(Tourism Authority Of Thailand, 2015).

Target Market

By: Chirag Bharucha

(1148012)

Target Market
Target Market is defined as a marketer directing marketing efforts to a
limited group of customers. (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008)
For many years Thailand is known for being friendly, exotic and a natural
destination with major infrastructures like hotels, lot of restaurants and

one person tour operators. Here the target market are mainly countries
like India, China, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Australia, Singapore,
and United Kingdom. (Thailand Tourism Report, 2015)

Marketing Mix
The marketing mix involves several elements out of which the most
important are the four Ps, i.e. Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Marketing mix is a element that a marketers use to have a necessary
change or a reaction on their target market. (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, &
Huang, 2008)

(marksandspencer.com, 2011)

Product: Thailand as a destination provides different types of tourism

such as Ecotourism, Cultural tourism, Sex tourism, Medical tourism,
Historic Tourism, Recreational tourism, and Shopping tourism. (Hays,
2013)

Ecotourism Tourism: Thailand has beautiful natural attractions like

forests, rivers, waterfalls and beaches. Thailand also has other small and

large islands which support adventure tourism activities such as rock

climbing, river rafting and diving. Wildlife tourism such as bird watching
and elephant centres also attracts a lot of tourist in Thailand. (Hays, 2013)

Cultural Tourism: Tourist find Thai art and culture very interesting as
Thailand offers tourist to learn about Thai culture with ethnic hill tribes
living their lives as they used to and tourist also learn Thai cookery.
Buddhist temples and museums are also one of the main culture tourism
destinations and tourist spend days travelling around these temples to
see the art. (Hays, 2013)

Sex Tourism: Sex tourism in Thailand has been on rise since year 2002
and takes place in various ways. The ago-go bars in Patpong and Nana
areas in Bangkok, and Pattaya city on the east side of Bangkok are the
most famous places to find sex tourist. (Chuenniran, 2002)

Medical Tourism: Travelling around for medical treatment is

becoming more and more popular these days and Thailand offers medical
tourism. The main purpose for tourist to travel for medical tourism is to
get better quality of care in the same cost or even lesser cost than their
home country. Thailand medical tourism is rapidly increasing and it is also
recognised as The Medical hub of Asia. (Ricafort, 2011)

Historic Tourism: Historical parks such as Ayutthaya and Si

Satchanalai are offered as historic tourism in Thailand. Thailand also has
archaeological sites like Ban Chiang and the Dinosaur Museum that attract
tourist. (Hays, 2013)

Recreational tourism: Thailand also attracts tourist for its

amusement parks, golf courses, zoos and night life. Tourist who take part
in such activities is known as recreational tourism.

Shopping tourism: Many tourist visit Thailand for the purpose of

shopping as Thailand offers them with most of the products from the world
famous brands and Thai brands. Thailand has Weekend markets, street
markets and the walking street market where the tourist can buy Thai
brands which are much cheaper than the products of the world famous
brands. (Hays, 2013)

Price: As the value of Thai baht currency is lower therefore tourist spend
less money than what they spend in their home country for the same
product or service. Therefore foreign tourist are found to be more satisfied
with the price strategy as compared to the local tourist. (Sereetrakul,
2012)

Thai Baht Currency Conversion Rates

India1 rupee = 0.52 Thai Baht
China1 Yuan = 5.24 Thai Baht
Malaysia-

1
Ringgit = 8.78 Thai Baht
Japan1 Yen = 0.27 Thai Baht
South Korea1 Won = 0.029 Thai Baht
Laos1 Kip = 0.0040 Thai Baht

Australia-

1
Dollar = 24.77 Thai Baht

Singapore-

1
Dollar = 23.66 Thai Baht

United KingdomPound = 48.14 Thai Baht

European UnionEuro = 34.96 Thai Baht

1
1

(Rates are subject to change. Rates as per 29/03/2015)

(http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/)
Place: Place refers to the distribution channel of products or services
through which it reaches the right customers or the target market. It
refers to where the buyers and sellers trade. (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, &
Huang, 2008)
Thailand is in the developing stage. The best time to visit Thailand is
during the months from November to march as the weather is cooler and
dry and the temperature is in range of 18 to 32 degree centigrade. The
best time to visit south part of Thailand is from the months of April to June
as the rest of the country is too hot and south is pleasant. Tourist can hire
cars to travel around Thailand and it is not recommended to hire a car in
Bangkok as there is a lot of traffic but rest of the country have well

maintained roads and a lot of road signs are in English. Its easy to drive
there because its left hand drive and similar to many other countries such
as United Kingdom and India. (Thailand Travel Guide, 2008)

Promotion: Promotion refers to the marketing communication by which

the goods and services are provided to the tourist (Hsu, Les , Brown,
Gross, & Huang, 2008). Thailand promotes itself through its tourism
website. The website has videos and covers all the attractions, amenities
and accessibility to places. The main aims of Tourism authority of Thailand
(TAT) are to make tourism as an instrument to boost their countrys
economy and not only concentrate on foreign tourist but also to
encourage the domestic tourist to travel around (Tourism Authority of
Thailand, 2015). The main marketing promotion strategy used by Thailand
are Advertising, Social Media, and Thailand has a new tag line since 2011
that is Amazing Thailand- Always Amazes You. Thailand will also use the
celebrity marketing strategy by calling celebrity for the major events, and
encourage the movie industry to have Thailand as their film shooting
destination. (ETN STAFF WRITER, 2011)

Market Segmentation: A market segment is a subgroup of the total

consumer market who share similar characteristics and needs relevant to
the purchase or use of a product, service, or experience (Hsu, Les , Brown,
Gross, & Huang, 2008). The tourism authority of Thailand have applied
Geographic and Demographic market segmentation since 1970s.
(Rittichainuwat, Beck, & Qu, 2002)

Geographic Segmentation: Geographic segmentation is to identify from

which destination a tourist comes or to get statistics of where the
consumer or tourist lives. This scale can be divided into international
tourist and domestic tourist. It is one of the major consideration for
marketing a destination as the marketers come know which country or
place the most visitors are from, so that they can target even more tourist
in future (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008). The major
international tourist to visit Thailand are from countries such as India,
China, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Australia, Singapore, and
United Kingdom (Thailand Tourism Report, 2015).

Number of
Foreign
Tourist
Revenue
(Million Baht)

Target for the

year 2013
22158005
(+8%)

Result for the

year 2013
25951848
(+26%)

Result for the

year 2012
20516672

1005215
(+13%)

1162918
(+31%)

889571

(Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2014)

The above results show that tourism industry is booming in Thailand. The
figures above show what the tourism authority of Thailand targeted for
the year of 2013 and the results exceeded by 18% from what was
expected (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2014).

International Tourist Arrivals

1st Quarter (January- March)
2011
2012
2013e

2014f

China

172125

278686

470517

508147

Malaysia

250028

255440

299607

309347

Japan

112789

137372

153798

154492

South Korea

100628

116362

129720

131117

Laos

89195

97600

110608

110938

Australia

82986

93024

90787

105507

India

91497

101331

104986

103571

United
Kingdom

84497

87305

90631

99867

68236

83122

93648

95599

68175

76864

82635

90381

Singapore
U.S.A

E= Estimate and f= forecast

Thailand, 2015)

(Tourism Authority of

Demographic Segmentation: The demographic segment can be divided

into different parts and it consists of age, sex, nationality, ethnicity,
conjugal status, and yearly pays (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008).
The demographic profile of a destination is very essential to know because
its important know issues ranging from the future population of a
destination and to calculate government spending requirement for the
future. (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2015)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Thailand)

In the year 2010 the official population of Thailand was 65,479,453 and
the current estimate of the 2014 population is 67.2 million which made
Thailand 20th most populous country in the world. The biggest threat to
the population of Thailand is AIDS, as in the present day 700,000 people
are declared HIV positive. This represents 2% of the total male population
and 1.5% of the total female population. Around 30000 to 40000 people
die due to AIDS in Thailand every year. In 2011, 75% of the total
population were Ethnic Thai, 14% were Thai Chinese, and 3% were
ethnically Malay. The sex ratio in the year 2014 is estimated to be 48.95%
males and 51.04% females. The capital of Thailand is Bangkok and the
local language of Thailand is Thai. (World Population Review, 2014)

Psychographic Segmentation: Psychographic segmentation is segmenting

consumer or tourist on basis of their attitudes, activities, interests,
opinions, and values. Its a technique to identify peoples lifestyle. (Hsu,
Les , Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008)
Thai tourism campaign The Amazing Thailand targeted senior citizens,
youth and honeymooners. They introduced nine tourism campaign
promoting new target market such as tourist for Thai herbal treatment
and Thai massage for the purpose of Health tourism. Thai cuisine is
popular thus the Amazing Thailand campaign also targeted the food
lovers. (Rittichainuwat, Beck, & Qu, 2002)
In the year 2014 a video was released on www.youtube.com and the video
was quoted I Hate Thailand, this video was the reverse psychology
strategy used by Thailand tourism. The video shows a angry British tourist
who has lost his bag just days before leaving and then he meets an
attractive girl there and finds reasons to like Thailand. At the end of the
video he finds his bag and claims to have seen the real Thailand. (Gecker,
2014)

Market Sectors to specify product offered by Thailand

The possibility of dividing business is possible by changing the current
item, or to create a new item and target it to another business sector. The
Ansoff Model is most ideal for advertising strategy for the new market
sections. (Hsu, Les , Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008)
The new strategies to promote Thailand from the Tourism Authority of
Thailand are to develop infrastructure and to improve the facilities, safety,
and to give accessibility to tourist destination for the elderly and disabled
people. To promote the development of new destinations with a potential
of tourism. The tourism authority of Thailand is also working on to make
its standard of tourism to match with the international standards of
tourism. The efforts are also made to improve the public services to
attract quality tourists. They even plan to increase domestic tourism
through marketing strategies. The tourism authority of Thailand also aims
to be a world-class destination, a medical tourism hub and a centre of

international meetings and conferences. Their main target audience are

leisure tourist, medical tourist, and business tourist. (6th UNWTO
Executive Training Program, 2012)

Thailand new market segment

The Thailand tourism authority wants to make Thailand as the medical
hub of the world. Medical treatment in Thailand cost about one third of the
cost that is paid in the United States of America or Europe. There are
about 400 high class hospitals in Thailand. Apart from the low cost,
Thailand also has no waiting list, expertise doctors and the modern
medical technology. There are medical packages available which offer
accommodation and also the after care of the patient which is away from
the city. The number of medical tourist in the next decade can jump to 16
million Americans for the issues like knee and hip replacements, nose
jobs, shoulder surgery and heart bypass. The price factor plays a
important role in selection of medical tourism destination. (Ricafort, 2011)

Competitive
Analysis

(By Suresh Bansal4148028)

A: Competitive Analysis: In this world every company or business

has a competitor either by a smaller group or a bigger group. This
competition may be direct or indirect. According to (Foundation, 2015)
competitive Analysis means An in-depth investigation and analysis of
your competition allows you to assess your competitors strengths and
weaknesses in your marketplace and helps you to choose and implement
effective strategies that will improve your competitive advantage

Importance and influence of the business: To stay in the market, every

company has a different market strategy. According to the market and
competitors the strategy will be better for the business. This strategy
starts with company mission statement when company mission is
established its easy to find a competitor. The analyses try to identify
companys strengths and opportunity that a business or market
competitors may have. According to the competitive analysis any
company can try to improve their strengths and opportunity by gathering
competitor information. According to the (Business Dictionary)
An effective analysis
will
first obtain important
information
from
competitors and then based on this information predict how the
competitor will react under certain circumstances.
Through competitive analysis is very easy to find companys current and
potential competitors. According to the market strategies there are two

ways to find competitors of a destination. First, the customer view means

which type of customer they are targeting and second; is the market view
which means market they are looking for. After finding out competitors, a
company can start to look forward towards their strategies and try to
identify the market area where a company can try to increase their
business or product. This can be an analysis of company strengths and
opportunity or competitors weakness and threats. As per changes in the
market and business rules, strengths and opportunity can be changed. As
per competitive analysis company can create a market strategy that will
help to improve their own skills according to the market values and
competitors. The competitive analysis develops companys skills and
values for future business and plan. Competitive analyses try to improve
company strength and minimize their weakness. After competitive
analysis company is able to determine their business where company
stand in the market and what are the factors that can affect their
business. Competitive analysis gives five areas product; price; promotion,
and advertising, distribution to develop their market position and business
for a competitor.(Entrepreneur.com). In other words, Competitive analysis
is the vital strategy part of any business which give future planning and
ideas for business and destination with quality product planning.

B: Competitive analysis for the business:

I.

Competitors on different level and why?

According to (Kotler & Armstrong, 2009) there are four types of
competitors which are:
Brand Competitors: Similar product at similar price.

Industry Competitors: The Same class of features and

products.

Form Competitors: offers different way of product and

services to the customers.

Generic Competitors: Targeting customer on the basis of

expenditure.

As per-adventures and ultimate choice of travel destination, Southeast

Asia is one of the best areas where traveller can get hospitality and warm
welcome by the locals with low prices. Southeast Asia is the place for
thousands of year with rich cultural history and jaw-dropping topography
which provides perfect adventures activities and sports activities can be
performed such as Thailand, Singapore, Cambodia, and Malaysia.
According to the (ASEAN, 2012) Singapore, is ranked 10th into ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations) group for best performance and
outstanding leading into European and North American tourists.

Singapore has best economical infrastructure as compared to

Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.
At the price of first-class hotel room as compared to Singapore and
Malaysia, Thailand is more economical.
Malaysia and Thailand both offer Natural and heritage resources.
Thailand leads 12 major car Rental Companys as compared to
Singapore has best air and railway connectivity.
Internet and ATM technologies are still developing in Thailand and
Cambodia whereas
Singapore and Malaysia is way more advance
in technology.
Thailand scored 41, Malaysia 35th and Cambodia 109th rank out of
139 countries in travel and tourism index, 2011. (ASEAN, 2012)

 Singapore represents business or cooperate tourism, and

honeymoon tourism on other hand Thailand represent cultural,
adventure and wildlife tourism.
Singapore target quality tourist with quantity and Thailand aims on
quantity.
Word of mouth marketing attracts Singapore and Thailand attracts
by Thai massage, sex tourism, heritage and adventures sports.
(ASEAN, 2012)

Performance and competitors of ASEAN members in the 2013-14 GCI and

the 16 composing pillars, rank out of 140 economic and score (1-7).
(Blanke & Chiesa, 2013)
The travel & tourism competitiveness
index
Pillars

Policy
rules
and
regulations
Environment
sustainability
Safety
and
security
Health
hygiene
Prioritization
of travel &
tourism
Air transport
Infrastructur
e
Ground
transport
Infrastructur
e
Tourism
Infrastructur
e
ICT

Singapor
e
Rank
out of
140
count
ry
1

Thailan

Malaysia

Cambodia

6.0

d
Rank
out of
140
count
ry
77

23

5.2

99

4.3

61

4.7

75

4.5

6.1

87

4.4

66

4.8

78

4.6

56

5.3

84

4.3

73

4.6

129

1.9

6.1

33

5.0

51

4.7

13

5.7

14

5.1

21

4.6

26

4.5

106

2.4

6.5

62

3.8

36

4.6

81

3.3

38

5.0

31

5.2

73

3.8

132

1.4

5.4

90

2.6

57

3.5

112

2.1

Score
(1-7)

Scor
e (17)

Scor
e (17)

4.4

Rank
out of
140
count
ry
9

Scor
e (17)

5.3

Rank
out of
140
count
ry
128

3.6

Infrastructur
e
Price
competitiven
ess in the t
&T industry
Human
resource
Education
and training
Availability
qualified
labour
Affinity
of
travel
&
tourism
Nature
resources
Culture
resources

66

4.6

25

5.0

5.4

19

5.1

6.0

70

4.9

28

5.4

99

4.6

6.1

76

4.6

30

5.3

100

4.2

6.0

47

5.2

24

5.4

90

4.9

5.7

18

5.4

16

5.4

20

5.3

92

3.2

23

4.9

18

5.1

67

3.6

35

3.6

36

3.6

31

3.9

111

1.6

(Blanke & Chiesa, 2013)

Key competitive advantages of Thailand and why

(Strength& Weakness): According to (Kotler & Armstrong,
2009) Competitive advantages could be
Image differentiation
Personnel differentiation
Location differentiation
Product differentiation
Physical differentiation
Service differentiation

Thailand is a famous destination for its Buddhist temples and wonderful

wildlife with an aspectual island and historical culture. Thailand provides
famous Thai message and Thai food. Thailand has nature based
tourism. Thailand tourism offer adventures such as rock climbing, water
surfing, golf course, exotic wildlife at low price as compared to Singapore
and Malaysia. Thailand is famous for Phuket, Phi-Phi, Krabi, Pattaya
wonderful island.

Strength & Weakness Analysis

(International, 2014)
Affecting
Factors

Thailand
Strength

Thailand
Weakness

Competitor
advantage

Culture

Long history and

heritage culture

The competitor has

fascinating and
best infrastructure

Natural resources

Spectacular
scenery and
wonderful beaches

Economic growth

Growing economic
via connection
sourced from India
and China
Developing air and
rail transportation
inbound and out
bound city
Improving the
service
quality
Food, sports
activity and
adventures activity
is more economic
Low and cheap
fashion

No
protection
plan for
environment
and culture
No plan to stop
water wastage and
sustainable
environment
Risk of exploitation
and degradation

Underdeveloped
and limitation of
public support

Public and private

support

Shortage of high
skilled worker

High skilled worker

and best performer

Variation of the
market price and
US dollar

Expensive and
equal to US dollar

Transportation
infrastructure

Quality service

Price

Fashion

No specific target
of the tourist group

Proper
developed
infrastructure
North America and
European market
share

Business
and
cooperati
ve market
and highly
fashionabl
e

The above table give a clear picture of Thailands SWOT ANALYSIS.

Thailand has strength in pricing strategy with different product as
compared to its competitors. Thailand weakness has undeveloped
infrastructure and limitation of quality service. Thailand competitors have
a best infrastructure in transportation and grounded base.

Relative market positioning of both the business

and competitors:
(International, 2014) said that Thailand ranked 18th out of 189 countries
under the ease going business market in the World Bank 2014 report.
Thailand is well-established destination with taking advantage of natural

and heritage resources as compare to Singapore, Malaysia, and

Cambodia. Defiantly Singapore represents travel and tourism into Southeastern tourism and ASEAN group but still Thailand has a price
competitive advantage. Thailand inbound travel market is a little different
which is more diverse than outbound travel. Thailand is getting benefit
and cooperation to increase its economic growth and infrastructure from
markets like India and China. (ASEAN, 2012) Report said that Singapore
got 1st and 41st rank in following regulation and environmental
sustainability and Thailand was 76 and 97, Malaysia got 21 and 64 and
Cambodia achieved 132and 82 ranks out of 139 countries economies.
Singapore is the best performer in ASEAN group, Thailand and Malaysia
are at same competitive stage and Cambodia was the worst performer in
travel & tourism. Singapore and Malaysia has a better infrastructure,
Thailand infrastructure is still underdeveloped and Cambodia has a long
time to go so far. Singapore is famous as a shopping and tourist market
and its capable for long stay market while Thailand needs to improve its
fashion style and quality service as per tourist perceptions. Singapore and
Malaysia tourist market now days open for combined tourism expenditure
such as business cooperate, the hospitality market, but Thailand is still
working on its brand image.
Now Thailand is re-developing, its
infrastructure for example redeveloped near Suvarnabhumi airport,
Bangkok can get more international connectivity. Thailand inbound travel
expectation can be around 28mn in 2018. Thailand is better advantage
this time because it is on growing stage into Asian pacific region.
Singapore and Malaysia have already reached at maturity stage while
Thailand is at development stage and Cambodia is still at introduction
stage. Thailand has a well-established market with a long history which
can attract more tourists who want to enjoy in low price as compare to
high priced destinations. (International, 2014) said that the Thailand
government expecting middle east tourist growth between 4% to 6% and
total tourist arrival growth was 1.8% in 2013 and it will reach 3.7% by
2018. Thailand expected overnight stays will increase by over 3% per year
and hotel occupancy rate is expected to improve from 42.9% (2013) to
51.3%(2018) so Thailand economy can improve its
efficiency and
competitiveness into tourism market. (International, 2014)

Tourism Industry Risk/Reward Ratings out of 100

(International, 2014)
Factors
Limits
of
potential
returns
Tourism Market
Country
Structure
Risk
to
realization
of
potential
returns
Market risks
Country risk
Tourism risk
Rank

Singapore
65.29

Thailand
75.99

Malaysia
54.33

Cambodia
55.89

71.67
55.73

85.30
62.04

50.00
60.83

65.00
42.21

8055

60.75

66.94

36.25

85.47
76.52
69.87
4

68.09
54.74
71.42
2

74.10
61.09
38.11
10

33.02
38.90
49.90
17

Modified way (International, 2014)

As per above table of tourism industry risk and rewards ratings give
picture about Thailands position in the tourism industry. Singapore has
more competitive advantage into tourism market and ranking as
compared to Thailand. Thailand situation and infrastructure are more
capable to develop its strength on the basis of efficiency and
effectiveness. Thailand has a price market strategy to offer in different
product at low price as compared to its competitor.

Competitive
business :

strategy

for

current

and

future

(International, 2014)according to Thailand government, focus on health

tourism, Thailand government has better growth opportunity at this time
because of the private investors and world bank report. As per world bank
report, Thailand is easy going market for an investor. As BMI report world
top 10 hotel chain have interest to expand their business into Thailand.
BMI expects to increase in the number of hotel between 2% and 6% by
2018. Thailand new political government has commitment to make better
infrastructure into train network and air transportation in the city or
outside city. Thailand tourism board try to increase dominated arrivals at
Thailand through china, India, south Korea, Russia and UK. Thailand
strategies focusing on upcoming events such as Phuket King Cup Regatta
sailing and golfing. Puea Thai party taking initially to improve train
network and investing in infrastructure for growth. Puea Thai party also try
to give subsidies to lower income group.
(International, 2014)report defined that Thailand has expected a growth
in receipts from tourism expenditure over our forecast period to 2018.
Transport receipts cover costs incurred by tourists on all tourists

transportation within Thailand including fares on buses, railway, airplanes

and boat trips, other transportation costs and package holiday trips within
the country(excluding cruises). Thailand tourism growth depends on
inbound or outbound tourists which can be expected from China, India,
Russia
or
Europe.
Thailand
focusing
to
improve
domestic
transportation(train network, air network, roads) development which can
give convenient connectivity to Thailand tourism into the world market.
Thailand tourism strength evaluated by hotel investment which will bring
income and soft money to Thailand so it can be the attraction of tourist
destination. (International, 2014)the report said that Hotel developers are
attracted to Thailand, as the country is a very well-established tourist
destination in the Competitive Asia Pacific region. There is a range of
attractions to suit a variety of budgets, including ecotourism activities
such as elephant ride and tiger trekking in the north, beach holidays in
Phuket and the surrounding islands, and the cultural and nightlife
attractions of Bangkok. Various festivals and exhibitions are held yearround, and the country hosts a variety of sporting events, including its
first Grand Prix in2014. Thailand is also building its reputation as a sailing
and golfing destination. The range of attractions means visitors are
attracted to the country in all seasons, even during the rainy season,
providing for consistent returns and relatively steady occupancy rates.

Conclusion:
Product Strategy: By promoting best experience and adventures
activities such as rock climbing, water surfing, golf and beautiful
beaches with spectacular scenery (as a product) with welcoming
hospitality with better management should be advantage of
Thailand tourism.
Market Positioning Strategy: Thailand is now growing tourist
destination as compared to Singapore and Malaysia. As a compared
to other destinations, Thailand markets itself as a unique destination
in terms of culture, cuisine, geographical location, and beautiful
beaches with attractive rock surfaces. Thailand is the biggest tourist
market for Asian, European honeymoon couples and middle-class
people.
Competitive positioning strategy: In the ASEAN group besides
Singapore, Thailand has Malaysia and Cambodia as major
competitors which are a threat in current and future tourism market.
Thailand has its speciality cuisine with low price as compared to its
other competitors. Thailand should use its historical heritage culture
to promote its tourism a combination of Western and Asian culture.
Thailand can use its price strategy which offers different products
such as adventures, sports activities; lifestyle to develop its
economic and market position by attracting Chinese and Indian
tourists. Now Thailand redeveloping its international airport and
making an additional international terminal next to the
Suvarnabhumi airport and a new international terminal built on
Phuket Island which gives easily connectivity to tropical island and
beaches removing necessity time to Bangkok for tourists.
Brand strategy: Build Thailand as a unique brand of mixed culture
using the brand apparatus such as culture, cuisine and its world
class location with adventures activities.
Marketing Mix Strategy: Providing best adventures activities with
different variety of cuisine( as a product) and mixed culture using

by low price strategy as compared to the other competitors at best

geographical location ( as a place) of Southern Asian pacific region
by promoting brand image of heritage and culture destination
through world top class hotel investor and camping events.

References
6th UNWTO Executive Training Program. (2012, June 25). Strategic Tourism
Planing: National Tourism Development. Retrieved from
www.asiapacific.unwto.org:
http://asiapacific.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/thailand_2.pdf
Business Monitor International. (2015). Thailand Tourism Report. London:
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