**TAT launches online campaign to help tourism
**
**The Tourism Authority of Thailand will officially kick off the Thailand Happiness Deals campaign to help tourismrelated operators increase their sales channels to promote products and services online.**
According to a statement released yesterday,[TAT](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+TAT+)governor Suraphon Svetasreni will preside over the press conference on Thailand Happiness Deals with[TAT](http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/search/adsearch.php?keyword=+TAT+)executives, honorary guests and media attending the briefing on Tuesday.
"TAT is very happy to be working on the Thailand Happiness Deals campaign to promote the local tourism industry. The campaign will create smiles for both private tourism operators and tourists with many activities to help the operators increase their sales and marketing channels.
“They can offer tourism products and services at prices tourists are happy to buy (happiness deals). Customers can print out electronic coupons to use as discounts when they pay for tourism products and services with the operators,” he said.
TAT is promoting this campaign through virtual marketing to boost local tourism from September 1 to December 31.
TAT hopes its website for the Thailand Happiness Deals project will allow tourism operators to meet customers directly through five main online activities - Happiness Deals, Happiness Blog, Happiness Song, Happiness Tourism Ambassador, and Happiness Multimedia. They have been developed to support tourism operators completely through online marketing.
“The Thailand Happiness Deals campaign will not only stimulate the local tourism sector, but develop the tourism information system or eTourism to support private operators,” Suraphon said. “It will also enhance the efficiency of public relations and communications to promote Thailand through online channels, which are considered to reach a vast group of target customers in a shorter time.”
Tourists and interested people can download and print out ecoupons at least 5,000 times to use as discounts at many tourism places participating in the campaign. The campaign’s impressions through online media will be no fewer than 90 million and the cost per impression is no less than Bt0.30, and this will create value of at least Bt30 million.
The number of page views in this campaign is expected to reach at least 4 million and unique Internet protocols (UIP) will total 15,000, with the tourists engaging in the activities on the website to number at least 50,000.
For Happiness Deals, the campaign offers discounts and special promotions from tourism operators nationwide, and they can meet customers directly through an online channel. The campaign’s website will gather special offers via electronic coupons from the participating operators and thus provide information about their venues. Customers can download and print out ecoupons to use at the mentioned places. There will also be a contest for stories on the Happiness Blog, and many other interactive opportunities.
During the first seven months of this year, Thailand welcomed 8.77 million tourists, a 13.79percent increase from 7.7 million in the same period in 2009.
This is because arrivals in the first half of last year had been hit by the global financial and economic crisis prevailing at the time, making this year’s rate of increase relatively high over a low base figure. It also reflects the fact that while arrivals to Bangkok were significantly affected, arrivals to Phuket remained relatively buoyant.
Arrivals in June and July have picked up significantly, thanks to the launch of recovery programmes and a broad range of promotional packages.TATofficials are optimistic that it will still be possible to meet the fullyear target of 14 million arrivals.