Siam Piwat by ONESIAM and ICONSIAM reinforces its success as a global destination developer, delivering extraordinary experiences during Songkran Festival, attracting international tourists to boost the Thai economy

Siam Piwat Group, a leading real estate and retail developer, has achieved overwhelming success in delivering experiences beyond expectations for Thai and foreign visitors during Songkran Festival 2023 events, reinforcing its leadership in developing world-class destinations. ONESIAM, which is a synergy of Siam Paragon, Siam Center and Siam Discovery, and ICONSIAM, the iconic global landmark on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, joined forces with domestic and international partners to roll out a truly vivid parade of special activities for both locals and tourists to attract visitors from every corner of the world. Thus, the traffic volume during Songkran Festival of the 4 shopping centers soared about 70% compared to the same period of 2022, and was higher than the traffic it achieved before the COVID-19 crisis. The events were widely mentioned on social media and by media outlets globally, which in return promoted the image of Thailand as the Top of Mind of Tourism, reaffirming it as the world's top tourist destinations. The successful events have also supported the Thai economy by attracting huge amounts of money into the country, helping revive the the Thai tourism sector which was severely hit after the COVID-19 outbreaks. More importantly, the events resulted in mutual benefits under “Create Shared Value” concept to share and distribute benefits more broadly as they generated higher income for Thai entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, along with merchants of local foods and handcrafts at Sook Siam, ICONSIAM.

Siam Piwat, the owner and operator of world-class real estate projects such as Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery, and a joint venture partner of ICONSIAM and Siam Premium Outlet Bangkok, continues to forge forward to develop world-class shopping centers that are destinations for tourists around the world. ONESIAM has employed the Co-creation & Collaboration strategy, joining hands with partners to create unprecedented and extraordinary experiences like no other to maintain its Top-of-Mind position. There have been more than 10 million of Thai and international shoppers visiting the shopping centers to indulge the extraordinary experiences throughout April 2023. During the Songkran Festival on April 13-16, 2023, Siam Paragon saw an average daily traffic increase of more than 52%, compared to the same period of 2022, while the traffic at Siam Center, Siam Discovery, and ICONSIAM increased more than 90%, 65%, and 78% respectively.

Global Collaboration: The first full-scale campaign in Thailand

Siam Paragon, Siam Center, and Siam Discovery welcomed Thai shoppers and international tourists throughout the summer season with the Global Collaboration with Paramount Consumer Products, bringing global brand Nickelodeon SpongeBob SquarePants, the beloved and well-known yellow sponge animated character, for the first full-scale campaign in Thailand. Siam Paragon also hosted Siam Paragon Summer Ultrasonic "Feel the waves and beats", featuring SpongeBob and his pals to elevate summer enjoyment in Thailand under the concept “Colorful DAY Playful NIGHT”.

Siam Center - The Ideopolis organized Siam Center SpongeBob SquarePants Summer Splash to embrace everyone with an exciting summer experience engaging interactive activities, holograms and vibrant displays under the concept of creativity, diversity and inclusion, which was expected to captivate Gen Z visitors. Siam Discovery - The Exploratorium presented Siam Discovery The Summer Exploratorium - Discovery Playground, showcasing decoration and interior atmosphere with the SpongeBob theme and the latest magnet "True 5G PRO HUB", a revolutionary realm designed for the New Gen with a dynamic space of creativity, exploration and self-growth, catering to the evolving needs of three key lifestyle trends of new generations; Gamer & E-Sports, Gen Z Lifestyle and Future Skills.

ICONSIAM organized the grandest water-splashing Songkran event, THE ICONIC SONGKRAN FESTIVAL 2023, opening up the River Park area for water splashing, together with sprinkling scented water on a Buddha statue, several performances and surprises from well-known artists. In addition, there were cultural performances to portray Thai ways of life, community ways of life, and inheritance of Thai culture from four regions, which attracted a huge mass of people to celebrate Songkran at ICONSIAM.

To welcome the return of foreign tourists, ICONSIAM is planning to collaborate with the government, the private sector, hotels and waterfront operators to organize events throughout the year, as well as joining with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to participate trade shows and roadshows abroad to attract foreign visitors, especially Chinese tourists and high-spending tourists in ASEAN region. Moreover, ICONSIAM has penetrated the business traveler market segment with True ICON Hall, which is a key highlight for MICE and weddings. It is expected that the number of tourists will double this year, compared to last year.

Songkran Festival hence marked the great revival of the Thai tourism sector, which is supported by private sectors like Siam Piwat Group that never ceases to create and deliver extraordinary experiences to both Thai and foreign tourists. Going forward, it is unmissable to see how Siam Piwat Group can take the lead and demonstrate its potential in the second of the year to welcome millions of tourists and maintain Thailand as the top-of-mind destination for tourists around the world and sustainably contribute to a strong growth of the tourism industry.

It is undeniable that the tourism industry is a magnet that attracts foreigners to Thailand and the influence of tourism also has a wide-ranging impact, not only tourism business operators, but also retailers and real estates. In 2023, the target number of foreign visitors has been revised from 25 to 30 million as the global situation returns to normal. During the 2023 Songkran Festival, it was obvious how much ready the tourists were in traveling back to Thailand. Thus, all relevant sectors are preparing strategies and injecting budgets for organizing activities that constitute a welcoming atmosphere and generate revenue as much as possible.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, during the Songkran Festival 2023, the overall atmosphere of both domestic and international travels was more active than last year. It was expected that more than 300,000 foreign tourist arrivals during April 12-16, 2023, and tourism income worth more than 18,530 million baht was generated.