Retail / Chinese tourists

Editorial Staff

Central Pattana Plc (CPN), SET-listed retail and property developer, collaborates with global partners to create a mega magnet that attracts tourists worldwide, kicking off in the first quarter of this year.

This initiative aligns with the Tourism Authority of Thailand's policy to stimulate the country's economy throughout the year.

Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, CPN’s chief marketing officer, said that the company is joining hands with global partners -WeChat Pay and Linkiebuy under the Xingyun Group to expand sales channels for Central Group’s branded products to penetrate the Chinese market through the digital platform: WeChat Mini Program.

It is also joining hands with Lotte Duty Free from South Korea to create cross-membership with The1 to offer the most exclusive privileges available.

CPN is introducing the ‘Klook Lounge’, the first travel service area at Central World, and many other magnets to attract tourists worldwide to visit Thailand, continuously stimulating the country's economy throughout the year.

According to the Immigration Bureau, the number of foreign tourists coming to Thailand from January 1-31, 2024 was over 3 million, which helped generate more than 100 billion baht in tourism income. The top five foreign tourist nationalities were from China (510,000), Malaysia (320,000), South Korea (220,000), Russia (220,000) and India (160,000).

Mr Nattakit said that CPN has already held high potential to attract tourists thanks to its 40 shopping centers with 15 shopping centers serving provinces that are popular tourist destinations in Thailand, covering every region of Thailand from the central and eastern regions such as Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chonburi, and Chanthaburi; the northern region such as Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai; the northeastern region such as Udon Thani and the southern region such as Phuket, Hat Yai and Koh Samui.

“Our current strategy is to build upon online-to-offline travel experiences in all aspects as we are committed to creating ‘mega magnets’ that will continuously attract tourists from around the world to visit Thailand and help spur the country’s economy throughout the year,” he said.

He adds that the company will highlight 3 magnets to attract tourists around the world to stimulate the country’s economy.

Mr Nattakit adds that the company will penetrate the Chinese market through the digital platform: WeChat Mini Program, which is an app platform layered on WeChat. These brands can develop their apps on the WeChat platform and are able to add a variety of features with convenient user experience as there is no need to register for identity verification. Customers can make transactions through the app on the Mini Program instantly via WeChat Pay.

Currently, monthly active users (MAU) of WeChat are 1.36 billion accounts and WeChat Pay MAU has approximately 1 billion accounts. The transaction and Mini Program are used per day by 1.1 billion people. This means that Chinese shoppers can conveniently access Central Group’s brands even more easily with an online-to-offline (O2O) service on the WeChat Mini Program platform, where customers can make payments, receive discounts and enjoy special privileges via WeChat Pay instantly before traveling to receive their purchased products in Thailand.

It has also engaged with LinkieBuy, which specializes in ‘social commerce’ to look after the platform backend. In addition, the have prepared various special promotions and privileges especially for Chinese customers.

In 2024, it expects to provide an even more complete loop of services such as delivering products to Chinese customers directly to their addresses in China. Lotte customers will be able to receive special privileges when visiting Thailand at centralwOrld and Central Phuket – the two tourist malls that are the main destinations for Korean tourists.