Haikou, Hainan, December 18, 2025 (Southeast Asia Information Port News, www.dnyxxg.com) – During Thailand's participation as the guest of honor at the 2025 China International Travel Mart (CITM), the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, Tongcheng Group, and Tongcheng Tourism Holdings Co., Ltd. officially signed two letters of intent for cooperation, aiming to establish a strategic tourism partnership and comprehensively promote in-depth cooperation between the tourism industries of China and Thailand.
The signing ceremony was held at the Langham Hotel Haikou. Ms. Thapane Kiatpaipur, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Mr. Wang Ke, Director and Senior Researcher of the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports, and Mr. Li Minghao, Vice President of Tongcheng Group and Tongcheng Tourism Holdings Co., Ltd., one of China's leading comprehensive online travel platforms, attended and witnessed the signing.
In her address, Ms. Thapane Kiatpaipur stated, “This signing underscores Thailand’s strategic focus on the Chinese market and demonstrates our firm commitment to promoting balanced, sustainable, and market-driven two-way tourism development. Through deepened cooperation with Haikou and its affiliated group, we will further strengthen tourism connectivity between the two cities, enhance the brand awareness of both destinations, create tangible development opportunities for tourists and tourism businesses in both countries, and actively promote the digital transformation of tourism services, helping sustainable tourism development reach a new level.” As a core city of the Hainan Free Trade Port, Haikou, a coastal metropolis with a resident population of over three million, is an important economic, tourism, and innovation center in the region. Based on a three-pronged development strategy of “sustainable development, modern urban life, and distinctive coastal culture,” Haikou is rapidly emerging as an international tourist destination and has become an important strategic partner for Thailand in the southern Chinese tourism market.
Building upon existing cooperation between the Tourism Authority of Thailand and relevant departments in Haikou and Hainan, this cooperation will focus on two core areas. On the one hand, both sides will strengthen destination promotion and joint marketing through joint participation in international tourism exhibitions, themed roadshows, business negotiations, promoting exchanges between opinion leaders, and developing multi-destination tourism products linking Haikou and Thailand. This move aligns perfectly with Thailand's status as the guest of honor at this year's travel fair, further solidifying the foundation for high-level cooperation and boosting market confidence. Furthermore, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has recently held discussions with Hainan Cultural Tourism Group to explore the possibility of launching charter flights from Haikou to Phuket and Chiang Mai.
On the other hand, regarding its cooperation with Tongcheng Group and Tongcheng Tourism Holdings Co., Ltd., the TAT will focus on digital marketing, brand communication, and tourism promotion. Leveraging Tongcheng Group's technological advantages in big data analytics and artificial intelligence services, both sides will build a service system covering the entire journey of Chinese tourists—from pre-trip to during-trip to post-trip—and improve the digital ecosystem supporting the development of two-way tourism between China and Thailand. It is worth mentioning that this collaboration is a continuation and upgrade of the past cooperation between the two parties. Previously, the two parties jointly carried out the "Green Tourism Season" hotel promotion activities from September to October 2025, and have planned special marketing activities for female tourists and the Spring Festival travel market from January to March 2026.
