Turquoise waters, world-famous cuisine and heartfelt hospitality are the pillars of Thailand’s booming tourism industry. Music festivals may soon join that list of attractions.
A number of events boasting famous international artists have debuted in the Southeast Asian nation over the past few years, producing a packed year-long schedule as organizers tap into explosive appetite for electronic music.
2014 brought the launch of Wonderfruit and Arcadia Spectacular, followed by Maya Music Festival in 2015, while 2017 will see the launch of three new entrants: Mystic Valley in February, Transmission in March and Paradise Island in April. Each caters to commercial and alternative tastes across various electronic genres, including house, techno and bass.
“In Thailand, the market for international electronic music, which isn’t difficult to digest and easy to become educated about, is growing the fastest,” explained Pranitan Phornprapha, founder of Wonderfruit, an annual eco-friendly affair that kicks off Feb. 16 in the hills of Pattaya. “There is room for lots of content [in this space].”
Organizers say there’s more than enough demand to go around and they hope the expanding festival landscape will eventually become a new tourism driver for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
“We definitely believe that this is a market segment that the government should look into. Not only it is bringing overnight travelers the country, generating income, and potentially increasing international and domestic flight traffic, it will improve national infrastructure to cater to tourism traffic over the long run,” the Mystic Valley team told CNBC.
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