In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Russell Young, Sojern’s managing director for Asia-Pacific, said the Thai travel and hospitality sectors should leverage the country’s online reputation to cash in on this trend.

“The first step is to focus on speaking to tourists that are actively looking to visit Thailand, which will result in higher levels of engagement and better results. Work with marketing solutions that can enable them to reach travellers as they are starting to consider and compare hotel and flight options,” Young said.

Another option is to target travellers who were headed to neighbouring countries and tempt them with relevant messaging regarding the allure of Thailand as a destination before they finalise their plans.

“This is a key way ahead [for] alternative holiday destinations like Vietnam and the Philippines, whilst [helping] the current tourism industry [to] flourish,” he said.

Sojern’s “Global Travel Insights” survey found that Bangkok was among the five most commonly searched destinations for short-haul travel in the Asia-Pacific region for the current quarter. This report was based on search and booking behaviour provided by major airlines, online travel agents, meta-search engines and other sources.

Bangkok was ranked No 3 after Singapore and Tokyo but ahead of Taipei and Osaka for online travellers from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

“For all-around value and variety of holiday experience, Thailand is still unbeatable,” he said as an explanation for the high ranking. Also critical is “the brand of the ‘Land of the smiles’, where the beaches, weather, food, people and culture are well established as a place where you relax, have fun and experience something new”.

Improvements in infrastructure and connectivity are also key factors. For instance, direct flights to Phuket from the Middle East and Europe have increased. Meanwhile, Don Mueang International Airport’s second terminal is now catering to an increasing pool of budget carriers from China and across the region as Suvarnabhumi Airport is running at over capacity, enabling the country to continue to grow visitor numbers in an organised and efficient manner.

He said the military-installed regime had re-established the reputation of Thailand as a place of relative stability and peace, while the Erawan Shrine bombing was fading from most tourists’ memories.