Thailand seeks to attract more Jordanian tourists

AMMAN — The potential to increase tourism exchange between Jordan and Thailand is high and more efforts are needed to promote tourist attractions in both countries, Thai officials said on Monday. 

They made the remarks at the Amazing Thailand Road Show to Jordan, which was held late Monday.

"Today, there are representatives from several hotels and tour operators coming from Thailand to meet with counterparts and look into cooperation to boost the number of Jordanian tourists to Thailand and vice versa," Chalermsak Suranant, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in Dubai and the Middle East, told The Jordan Times.

"Representatives from the two countries held several meetings today and explored potential cooperation. We want to increase the number of Jordanians going to Thailand," Suranant said on the sidelines of the event.

Some 12,146 Jordanians visited Thailand in 2013, a 38 per cent increase compared to 2012, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, TAT deputy governor for international marketing (Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Americas), said during the road show.

More than 26 million people visited Thailand in 2013, 680,000 of whom were from the Middle East, Rerngronasa said.

Addressing the event, Thai Ambassador Piriya Khempon said the embassy is keen on facilitating the issuance of visas to increase the number of tourists to Thailand.

"We want more Jordanians, especially honeymooners to go to Thailand," the ambassador noted.

"The event is also a chance to look into increasing the number of Thai tourists to Jordan, especially since Jordan is a peaceful country and has many interesting places to visit," Khempon added.