TripAdvisor^®, the world’s largest travel site from reviews to bookings*, has announced tie-ups with five leading retail groups in Thailand to further enhance the in-destination experience for Chinese travellers when they hit the shops in Bangkok. The announcement comes during the country’s national shopping sale season when inbound tourism from China is especially popular.

According to TripAdvisor, inbound travel interest by Chinese travellers continues to grow year-on-year by 56%¹ , outpacing interest growth by any other inbound market to Thailand. Data from TripAdvisor also shows that growth in inbound interest over the June to August shopping period is growing year-on-year by 84%².

This offering, available to users via TripAdvisor’s Chinese domain, was designed specifically with the free, independent Chinese traveller (FIT) in mind, as they tend to look to mobile devices for information to guide their decision-making when in-destination. Chinese users will be able to navigate a shopping category via the TripAdvisor China mobile web or app, where offers at retail points of interest by the Central Group, King Power, Siam Piwat Group, Terminal 21 and The Mall Group are available. Aside from discounts and other promotions, users can access floor maps, brand directories and curated shopping guides for an enhanced shopping experience in Bangkok.

“Bangkok is one of the leading shopping capitals of the world and continues to be a top destination for the Chinese when they travel overseas,” said Aaron Hung, Senior Director of Partnerships for TripAdvisor, Asia Pacific. “This feature will enrich their shopping experience in Bangkok as they will have access to special offers and other shopping recommendations that will make their shopping experience more enjoyable. We are delighted to work with the Central Group, King Power, Siam Piwat Group, Terminal 21 and The Mall Group to launch this initiative at such a great time for shopping in Bangkok.”

Quotes from TripAdvisor’s Retail Partners in Bangkok

Central Group

“Central has always been committed to improve our service so that Chinese shoppers will have a better shopping experience with us. Partnering with TripAdvisor through the new shopping feature has allowed us to engage more effectively with Chinese consumers by highlighting the strengths of our group offerings throughout Thailand. We’re pleased to extend our tourist promotions of special discounts and tax refund to TripAdvisor’s Chinese users, and we hope to welcome more Chinese shoppers in our stores especially at Central Chidlom and Zen@Central World.”– Piyawan Leelasompop, Executive Vice President of Marketing, spokesperson of Central department store.

Siam Piwat Group

“Chinese visitors are very important to us and we are constantly working on ways to create a better shopping experience for our Chinese shoppers. With three shopping malls listed on the TripAdvisor China domain, we hope to reach out to more Chinese travellers who are visiting Bangkok and look forward to welcoming them to our malls. Besides providing information on our malls, we are also extending TripAdvisor’s Chinese users with exclusive privileges such as a tourist platinum card that entitles user to 10% off at Siam Paragon Department Store and up to 30% discount at participating brands in Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery as well as a THB1,000 gift voucher with minimum spending of THB5,000.” – Mrs. Jiraporn Srisa-an, Senior Deputy Managing Director for Business Promotion, Siam Piwat Co., Ltd.

Terminal 21

“As an iconic and trendy shopping destination in Bangkok, we are always looking for innovative ways to reach out to more shoppers, and partnering with TripAdvisor is a sensible business decision that will allow us to reach out to Chinese visitors more effectively. We’ve tailored promotions that are exclusively created for TripAdvisor’s Chinese users who are shopping at Terminal 21 Asok, where they will be able to receive a Pier 21 Food Court card worth THB150 with a minimum spending of THB3,000 in our stores. Users with a minimum spending of THB5,000 will also receive a POSH bag, a highly popular brand amongst our Chinese shoppers. With unique special offers like these, we look forward to continue welcoming more Chinese travellers to shop with us at Terminal 21 Asok.” – Mr. Prasert Sriuranpong, Managing Director, Terminal 21

The Mall Group

“We were very excited to be a part of this initiative when TripAdvisor first proposed this to us earlier this year. We’ve completed the rollout of our offerings on the TripAdvisor China domain, back in January as we wanted to target the Chinese travellers who were visiting Bangkok over the Chinese New Year holidays. Since then, we’ve seen an encouraging set of results from this partnership and we hope to continue reaching out to even more Chinese travellers and providing them with special offers in our participating malls.” – Voralak Tulaphorn, Senior Vice President, The Mall Group   

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Note to Editor
¹Source: TripAdvisor internal data comparing pageviews from China IPs looking into Thailand, comparing 2015 and 2016 (full year).

²Source: TripAdvisor internal data comparing pageviews from China IPs looking into Thailand, comparing June-August 2015 and June-August 2016.