Thailand has won the title of ‘Best Tourist Country’ for the 9th year running from Grand Travel Award, Sweden’s most prestigious tourism industry award, after the kingdom outperformed all other competition at the presentation ceremony held in Stockholm on Feb 16, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Published on the ministry’s website, the announcement said that Travel News, Sweden’s leading tourism magazine, has hosted the annual award since 1993. In 2011, eight countries were nominated for the award of ‘Best Tourist Country’ in 2011, and Thailand topped all comers with a score of 8.38, followed by the United States with 8.19 and Australia with 8.18.
The Grand Travel Award selection process is conducted through a committee of renowned personalities in Sweden’s tourism industry, which is responsible for selecting nominees for the categories under consideration. Tour operators, in turn, vote on the selected nominees based on set criteria such as product and service development, financial management, customer perception, and local tourism agencies.
At the presentation ceremony, the Thai chargé d’ affaires in Stockholm said that Thailand has won the award for nine consecutive years due to its cultural uniqueness and overall diversity, in addition to Thailand’s celebrated ‘sun, sea, and sand’, factors which have persuaded Swedish tourists to revisit the Kingdom time and time again. The award could also be attributed to the outstanding performance in promoting Thai tourism by The Royal Thai Embassy and the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s office in Stockholm.
In addition, Thai Airways ranked 4th place for ‘Best International Flight’ in this year’s awards.
