Capitalizing on India’s economic boom in the country’s secondary cities, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is undertaking a tourism roadshow to secondary cities of southern India, covering Coimbatore, Mangalore, and Pune between January 9th-14th, 2013.

The roadshow to the three emerging cities, all of which have been given international gateway status by the Indian government, is part of the TAT strategy to tap the rich potential of India’s populous secondary cities. This is in addition to the ongoing marketing activities in the primary four Indian megapolis cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai.

More than one million Indians visited Thailand in 2012, making it one of six countries to cross that landmark annual arrivals number.

The roadshow is also being held just before the South Asia Travel & Tourism Expo (SATTE 2013) that will convene in New Delhi between January 16th-18th. The TAT will have the largest international tourism stand at the event.

The latest roadshow will include the following itinerary:

9 Jan 2013 COIMBATORE: Population: 4.25 million+, and home to a strong textile industry and motor sports.

11 Jan 2013 MANGALORE: Population: 485,000, a major port of South India which handles over 75 percent of India’s coffee exports and the bulk of the nation’s cashew exports.

14 Jan 2013 PUNE: Population: 6 million+, Home to several universities educational and research institutes, this second largest city in Maharashtra is also becoming an important IT hub.

India is today the biggest source market for visitors from South Asia and one of fastest growing markets for Thailand. More than one million Indians visited Thailand in 2012, making it one of six countries to cross that landmark annual arrivals number.

Indian tourists have an average daily expenditure of 160 USD per person per day over an average length of stay of 7.19 days.

There has been rapid growth in aviation access. As of January 2013, there are 152 direct weekly services between Bangkok and major Indian cities including Delhi (45), Kolkata (35), Mumbai (45), Bangalore (7), Hyderabad (4), Madras/Chennai (14) and Bagdogra (2) by Thai Airways International, Philippine Airlines, Indigo, Jet Airways, Air India, Thai Air Asia, Bangkok Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Royal Bhutan Airlines and Air Austral.

via Media Releases 2013 – Tourism Authority of Thailand Newsroom – Tourism Authority of Thailand Newsroom.