BANGKOK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and TakeMeTour, Thailand’s largest online marketplace for private 1-day tours hosted by locals (“Local Experts”) in 55 cities, have launched the LocalTable gastronomy tourism campaign at the event “New Era of Local Tourism in Thailand.” Supported by internationally-renowned partners including AccorHotels, AirAsia, dtac, and King Power, LocalTable invites Thai and international travelers to dine at local homes and restaurants. Combining gastronomy tourism with sharing economy, this is Thailand’s unprecedented strategy to overcome tourism logistics challenges while elevating community-based tourism and achieving income distribution across the country.
While it is classic Thai food like Pad Thai and Tom Yum Kung that put Thailand on the world’s culinary map, various other dishes and ingredients await, especially in off-the-beaten-track destinations. TAT and TakeMeTour saw gastronomy tourism as a key to success and initiated LocalTable to bring Thailand’s gastronomic diversity to the world while promoting the hidden gems and enabling more locals to directly benefit from tourism.
Featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 and winning several international awards including Asia-Pacific ICT Awards (Tourism & Hospitality), TakeMeTour innovates with online tour booking platform that brings more local participation into Thailand’s tourism industry. Believing in locals’ passions and potentials as Thailand’s ambassadors, the TravelTech startup currently offers more than 1,000 local tours and aims to launch over 70 LocalTable tours around Thailand.
At LocalTable, travelers can book authentic local trips at their fingertips, explore Thailand hassle-free, and share a meal cooked from locally-sourced ingredients at local homes or restaurants. TakeMeTour and famous Thai chefs have co-created these gastronomic tours with the locals. Dusit Thani College, Thailand’s top hospitality school, provided a training course for Local Experts and awarded them with food safety certificate.
Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, TAT Deputy Governor, presided over “New Era of Local Tourism in Thailand.” Many experts in the tourism and hospitality industry also attended the event.
With this campaign, TAT and TakeMeTour have set a target for 3% revenue growth in the gastronomy tourism areas. Whether it is exploring floating markets or spending a day at salt farm, or even cooking up a local feast, travelers can book their own LocalTable here.
More information and photos: http://takeme.tours/localtable-mediakit
