- Presenting 32 auspicious heavens with 'Four Symbols' installation, where visitor can worship gods and goddesses and see over 100 pieces of auspicious rare jade worth over 5 billion baht. Eat and shop at 888 popular shops and restaurants and enjoy amazing Chinese cultural shows
- From 1st-28th February 2018 at 32 branches of Central shopping centers
Central Pattana Plc (CPN) is joining hands with partners UnionPay International Ltd. (Thailand), Kasikorn Bank Plc and Thai Life Insurance Plc to invest over 150 million baht in supporting the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), and encouraging Thais of Chinese descent to travel domestically with the concept of 'Shop, worship Chinese gods and ancestors, eat and spend leisure time in one place' at 32 branches of CPN shopping centers. CPN will add additional marketing budget for tourists of 100% hoping to attract more Chinese shoppers with a campaign entitled 'The Great Chinese New Year 2018 – The Blessed Kingdom', creating 32 auspicious heavens with the 'Four Symbols' installation, where visitor can worship gods and goddesses and see sacred jade and auspicious rare items with a combined age of 2,000 years and a total value of over 5 billion baht. An atmosphere of prosperity and luck will be created with items used for worship and fortune-telling sessions offered by Sinsae Chang (Feng Shui consultant). Enjoy auspicious foods throughout the Year of Dog along with Chinese New Year fashion from 1st - 28th February 2018.
Dr. Nattakit Tangpoonsinthana, Executive Vice President of Marketing of CPN talked about the background of 'The Great Chinese New Year 2018' campaign saying: "This year, CPN would like to support government policy and encourage Thai-Chinese to spend money in the country to spur GDP with the concept of 'Shop, worship Chinese gods and ancestors, eat and spend leisure time in one place' at Central shopping centers. Chitra Konantakiet, a Chinese expert who has been invited as a guest of honor several times by Sinsae in Hong Kong to attend lion-awakening rituals, is taking part as a special advisor for this campaign. We also have a popular illustrator, "Untitled 29" (or Ms. Piyaporn Chansiriwilai) to help design the Four Symbols (animals), which will give our shopping centers an atmosphere on the theme of beautiful heavens. We are applying 2018's color in trend (purple), the matching color of the classical element of 'water', based on Chinese Feng Shui principles, to create a unique look and we expect to increase visitor traffic and boost our sales by 20%."
"As for the tourist market, the Chinese remain the top visitors, with the most powerful purchasing power. This year, we estimate that there will be 10-15% more Chinese tourists visiting Thailand during Chinese New Year than last year. Chinese New Year falls in February this year and CPN is implementing 'Micro Location' and 'Micro Moment' strategies to support a tech-savvy group of tourists searching for travel information online. We added 100% more marketing budget, targeting the new generation of Chinese tourists aged 24-35 with high income and the 'first visit' target group through a popular Chinese application that has over 200 million active users/month. We are focusing on promoting auspicious foods from popular restaurants and Chinese New Year landmarks in tourist destination cities such as Chiang Mai, Phuket and Pattaya."
Highlights for this year are 'Shop, Worship Chinese gods and ancestors, Eat and Spend leisure time at CPN's shopping centers'. Enjoy shopping for items to worship with and auspicious food presented by Sinsae Chang Tossaporn Sritula and Chef Ian Kittichai. Witness a lion-awakening ritual by Chitra Konantakiet at CentralWorld. Shop at a Chinese village market to pick unique-in-Thailand auspicious apples with happy and prosperous stamps – a limited edition for the Central Group only. Be amazed by 100 pieces of jade and lucky charms with a combined age of 2,000 years and a total value of 5 billion baht e.g. 'Four Symbols' jade at CentralWorld; five color Bodhisattva jade at Central Bangna; and the model of the God of Love from Wong Tai Sin Temple (well-known in the online world) at Central Ladprao. Pay respects to Chinese gods and goddesses at CPN's shopping centers in Chiang Mai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Hat Yai, and Pattaya etc. See Thai-Chinese cultural performances such as the Golden Dragon Show, Dancing Lion performance, Chinese Opera and Guzheng and take photos with grand Chinese landmarks at 32 branches nationwide.
In addition, shops and restaurants at the shopping centers will be presenting 'auspicious dishes' throughout the Year of Dog such as roasted duck, Peking duck, Szechuan seafood soup, abalone in oyster sauce, stir-fried sea cucumber with basil, steamed Blacktip grouper with soy sauce, stir-fried chicken with mixed nuts and ginkgo in syrup, with special discounts from popular restaurants such as Four Seasons, Earwthai, Hua Seng Hong, Hongmin, Laem Charoen Seafood, Ruen Petch, and Lee Cafe. Shop for Chinese New Year fashion collections from popular brands such as Diamond, H&M, Pandora, Swarovski, Herschel, Cath Kidston, Levi's, Lyn, Sketchers and ALDO. Get a chance to win a digital 'Red Envelope' from Misty Mynx, Wrangler, SF Cinema and Major Cineplex. Get free Malee brand '100% mandarin orange juice' only from 14th-16th February when shopping using credit cards (following the conditions). Customers with the highest spending during the campaign using participating credit cards, get a free chance of a horoscope from a well-known fortune teller and win a free one-salung (3.81g) weight gold necklace.
'The Great Chinese New Year 2018 - The Blessed Kingdom' campaign will be held from 1st-28th February 2018 at 32 branches of CentralWorld, CentralPlaza and CentralFestival nationwide.