Importance of Muay Thai in Thailand's Tourism

No doubt about it, tourism in Thailand is still on the rise after it recorded astonishing tourist arrivals of 21 million in 2012 – a record-breaking figure and the most for the kingdom. This year tourism authorities are targeting somewhere in the region of 25 million tourist arrival.

There are two main reasons tourists flock to Thailand – amazing and exotic tourist destinations and Muay Thai. Most of the western tourists that have visited Thailand the first time have come back the second, third, fourth time and so on. The country is just full of surprises especially when it comes to undiscovered and unexplored locations in Thailand. The finest stretches of beaches are found in the kingdom. From one island to another, one will never get enough of the beauty and charm of the place. The kingdom boasts of some of the most spectacular tourist attractions and the friendliest and warmest people that go with the places. No reason for foreign tourists not to fall in love with the country.

But beautiful and fantastic sights and friendly people are not the only reason why Thailand gets that many visitors every year. The popularity gained by Muay Thai – Thailand’s national combat sport, have crossed thousands of ocean miles and people from other countries have grown an insatiable interest and love for the sport. Fortunately, a lot of Muay Thai training camps in Thailand had opened its doors to foreigners who have expressed a desire and interest to learn the basics of Muay Thai. The foreign tourists get as much information about Muay Thai training in between spending their holidays in the beautiful beaches of Phuket or other islands in the kingdom. By the time they depart, they know which Muay Thai training camp they will enlist in for training when they come back to the country. See here one of the most renowned Muay Thai training camp in Phuket.

Those in the Muay Thai industry are making changes in their training programs to accommodate the emerging market for foreign Muay Thai trainees. They have included short-term training programs that will allow the foreigner to learn all the basic techniques in Muay Thai. Some of the training camps even help the tourists find suitable accommodations, which are conveniently located, near the training camp since foreigners are not allowed to stay the nights in the camp while on training.

And while tourism authorities are gearing their efforts and marketing drive for Thailand to become a destination for luxury holidays, with five-star getaways catering to European and American travelers, Muay Thai authorities are beefing up their promotional activities to lure more foreigners to enroll in the Muay Thai training program packaged with their holiday tour. Some Muay Thai gym, especially those located in premier tourist destinations in Thailand such as Phuket and Bangkok organize regular Muay Thai fights where tourists are welcome to watch. Other Muay Thai training camp in Phuket have tie-ups with travel agencies around the world, offering a holiday tour package that includes a minimum two-week training program aside from the air tickets, accommodation, local tour arrangements made by the travel agency.

And since Muay Thai is an important component of tourism, more activities from the Muay Thai community will be expected this year as they step-up their efforts and campaign to attract more Muay Thai trainees and fighters and the plain Muay Thai enthusiasts to go to Thailand. And Thailand’s tourism authorities should appreciate such efforts and provide support and assistance to the Muay Thai community to continue making the sport more known to more people around the world.