TAT connected 40 UAE and Saudi travel representatives with 80 Thai tourism businesses after product discovery across Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok, while highlighting stronger Green Season demand.
Participants at Amazing Journeys Through Thailand Trade Connect 2026, where Middle East travel representatives met Thai tourism businesses in Bangkok on 1 October 2026.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- TAT brought together 40 travel trade representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia with 80 Thai tourism businesses at a Bangkok trade event on 1 October 2026.
- The wider six-day programme combined trade meetings with first-hand product discovery in Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok.
- TAT is highlighting wellness, nature, halal-friendly dining, family accommodation and culturally attentive services for the Middle East market under its “Healing is the New Luxury” direction.
- Middle East arrivals to Thailand rose 11.82% year on year from 1 July to 20 September 2026, even as arrivals for 1 January to 20 September remained 11.53% lower than a year earlier.
(NEWS) BANGKOK, Thailand, 2026-Oct-02 — /Travel PR News/ — Thailand is using a six-day familiarisation and business-matching programme to deepen its connections with the Middle East travel trade, bringing buyers from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia into direct contact with Thai tourism suppliers across three of the country’s major visitor hubs.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) brought 40 travel trade representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia together with 80 Thai tourism businesses at Amazing Journeys Through Thailand Trade Connect 2026 on 1 October at Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit. The Bangkok event formed the commercial centrepiece of the Amazing Journeys Through Thailand Mega FAM Trip & Trade Connect 2026, which ran from 27 September to 2 October through Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok.
Turning first-hand product discovery into business meetings
The trade session combined a Thailand product presentation with continuous B2B appointments, giving Middle East participants and Thai operators time to discuss products, rates and potential partnerships before a networking dinner. TAT said the invited companies included travel businesses already selling Thailand as well as those looking to expand their Thailand portfolios.
Wajanan Silpawornwiwat, TAT’s Executive Director of the Americas, Middle East and Africa Region, said the programme was designed to turn first-hand destination knowledge into commercial connections. TAT is encouraging partners to build itineraries around wellness and nature, healthy dining and halal cuisine, family-friendly accommodation and culturally attentive services, while also using festivals and events to create additional reasons for repeat travel.
The familiarisation component began with two routes from 27 to 29 September. In Pattaya, participants combined resort stays with visits to Nong Nooch Tropical Garden, Ocean Marina Yacht Club Pattaya, island-hopping and snorkelling, Central Pattaya and The Sanctuary of Truth. The parallel Hua Hin programme focused on seaside resorts, heritage areas, wellness experiences and Vana Nava Waterpark. Both groups later reunited in Bangkok for a visit to Central Park Bangkok and a reception at Siam Yacht Club.
Bangkok programme widens the product mix
On 30 September, Bangkok Product Discovery Day shifted the focus to riverfront hotels and VIP services, wellness clinics and spas, the Charoen Krung and Talat Noi neighbourhoods, Thai design and crafts, halal-friendly gastronomy and major shopping destinations. The programme concluded with a Chao Phraya River dinner cruise supported by TBO Holidays.
The initiative is being organised through the TAT Dubai Office with Air Arabia and the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), alongside tourism partners in Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok. TAT said the programme also maintains direct trade engagement after the authority decided not to participate in Arabian Travel Market amid regional instability. According to TAT, Air Arabia operates 21 weekly flights on each of its Sharjah–Bangkok and Sharjah–Phuket routes.
Green Season demand offers a counterpoint to the year-to-date decline
The timing is significant for Thailand’s effort to build more travel from Gulf markets during its lower season. TAT reported 531,743 arrivals from the Middle East between 1 January and 20 September 2026, down 11.53% from the same period a year earlier. From 1 July to 20 September, however, arrivals reached 321,304, an increase of 11.82% year on year.
TAT is presenting that summer-period growth as an opportunity for Green Season travel, when Gulf summer holidays overlap with Thailand’s lower-demand months. By combining product inspection with direct buyer-seller meetings, the programme gives Thai suppliers an opportunity to shape packages around the preferences TAT is prioritising for the region, while giving Middle East travel companies current, first-hand knowledge of accommodation, wellness, dining, family, retail and experiential products.
