TORONTO — At last night’s Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand event agents heard about special Thailand trip pricing offers available through Exodus Travels and Contiki Tours, and the evening ended with an update from Cathay Pacific just before the airline gave away tickets to Bangkok.

Last night’s presentation was the travel trade portion of a much larger Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand campaign that Outpost magazine launched in June 2017, running until March 2018.

The first season of Tan Your Mind Thailand was so successful that this follow-up is back for the fall and winter season.

For the first go-round, Outpost contributors Lena and Sue travelled to Thailand for an epic trip from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, producing along the way a web series of short, fun video clips 10 to 15 minutes in length and posted on social media and at tanyourmind.com. The videos show Sue and Lena doing everything from getting fish pedicures and tattoos to going on an ‘ethical date’ with elephants.

This new and upcoming installment of Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand will again highlight two female travellers – winners Abra Atkison and Jess Abran – delving into Thailand’s culture, seeing lesser-known destinations and taking part in local experiences.

Everything will be chronicled at tanyourmind.com, linked from the outpostmagazine.com website. The bi-monthly travel magazine, along with its digital presence, focuses on “sustainable, thoughtful and mindful travel into the farthest corners of our planet”, all from its Canadian HQ in Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood.

Reps from the Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand event’s many sponsors were in attendance last night, including trade media partner Travelweek, tour operator partners Contiki Tours and Exodus Travels, and Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand campaign sponsors Tourism Authority of Thailand, Cathay Pacific, Osprey Packs and Chaco.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s representative in the Canadian market, Kayla Shubert, said this is TAT’s second year participating in Tan Your Mind Thailand. “It was such a success last year that my head office said we could move ahead with Tan Your Mind 2,” said Shubert at last night’s event. “This initiative is a Canadian initiative and it showcases two young women who travel to Thailand and all of the unique opportunities and experiences that they encounter in Thailand. And through a series of videos they share their adventures of what they experience in Thailand.”
Some 137,400 Canadian travellers made their way to Thailand in the first six months of 2017, an increase of 4.9% over the first half of 2016, says Shubert.

The average length of stay for Canadians visiting Thailand is almost 18 days, she notes, and the destination enjoys a 60%+ repeat factor from the Canadian market.

Shubert is looking forward to the opening the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s new dedicated office in Canada, with a projected opening date in November or December at its downtown address in the Exchange Tower at 130 King Street West.

At its TAT Action Plan for 2018 meeting this past summer the Tourism Authority of Thailand set a growth of not less than 8% increase in tourism revenue for 2018.

TAT has also segmented target customers worldwide, ranging from first-timers to repeaters, senior citizens to sports enthusiasts. TAT is also emphasizing niche markets including Weddings and Honeymoons, and Women Travellers, as well as continuing to create a brand image as a high-end luxury travel destination.

Prakaipruek Damrongvadha, TAT’s Chief of the Americas Marketing Development and Promotion Section, thanked attendees at last night’s event for all their efforts to encourage tourism to Thailand: “Your support for many years are contributors to the success in the market … and allows us to open the first TAT Toronto office at the end of the year.”

Cathay Pacific BDM William Wang was also at last night’s Tan Your Mind 2 Thailand event. “Our network, flight frequency, safety record and most importantly, our five-star service makes Cathay Pacific the best choice when travelling from Canada to Thailand,” he said. “In Canada, we offer 10 nonstop weekly flights from Toronto to Hong Kong. We also offer 17 nonstop weekly flights from Vancouver to Hong Kong, three of which are operated by the newest addition to our fleet, the ultra-modern, fuel-efficient Airbus A350.”

Wang added that all of Cathay’s nonstop flights from Canada offer seamless connections at its Hong Kong hub to Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and codeshare partner Bangkok Airways onward to several destinations in Thailand including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Samui, and Krabi.