Thailand recognized for Smart Tourism initiatives at World Tourism Awards 2025
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) received two awards at the World Tourism Awards 2025, held on 20 October 2025 at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium. The recognition highlights Thailand’s progress in Smart Tourism and the application of digital innovation and data intelligence to support tourism development.
TAT received the “Best Use of AI in Travel” award for its TAT-AI (Thailand’s Tourism Intelligence Powered by AI) initiative, and “Most Innovative Tourism Campaign” for the “Half-Half Thai Travel” campaign.
Representing the TAT Governor, Mr. Kittipong Prapattong, Deputy Governor for Digitalisation, Research, and Development, said: “These awards reflect TAT’s commitment to transforming Thailand’s tourism sector into a digital ecosystem, using innovation to support local economies, understand traveller behaviour, and promote inclusive growth across all regions.”
Thailand’s Smart Tourism initiatives
The TAT-AI Project, launched in fiscal year 2025, consolidates tourism data into a unified National Tourism Data Warehouse. In collaboration with Google, including Google Cloud, Gemini, and Google Maps, TAT-AI integrates artificial intelligence to provide travellers with personalised, real-time information via TAT’s website. The system also supports data-driven marketing, allowing TAT to analyse traveller behaviour and develop targeted strategies to enhance Thailand’s tourism offerings.
The Half-Half Thai Travel Campaign was a domestic tourism initiative aimed at reviving travel and distributing income to local communities. The campaign applied a 50% co-payment model, offering over 500,000 travel privileges and involving nearly 10,000 SME operators nationwide.
A notable development of this campaign was the “Amazing Thailand Platform”, a digital infrastructure integrating data from travellers and businesses and promoting a cashless tourism ecosystem. The campaign encouraged travel to secondary cities and generated an estimated 35 billion Baht in economic circulation, supporting Thailand’s Smart Tourism transformation.
TAT continues to advance digital and data-driven tourism initiatives, integrating technology with Thailand’s economy, culture, and travel experiences, aiming to position the country as a Smart Tourism hub in Asia.
The World Tourism Awards 2025, organised by the World Tourism Forum Institute (WTFT), recognises innovation and leadership in global travel, tourism, and hospitality. Held as part of the Global Tourism Forum Annual Meeting 2025 (20–21 October), the awards honoured leading organisations across destinations, hospitality, aviation, sustainability, and digital transformation.
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