TTM will focus on strengthening Thailand tourism recovery

BANGKOK – Facilitating a complete recovery from the recent political unrest will be the primary focus of Thailand’s annual travel mart to be held between 4-6 June, 2014, at the Exhibition Centre Hall, IMPACT Mueang Thong Thani. The announcement was made by the Tourism Authority of Thailand in an official release. This is a bold step for a State organization such as TAT to acknowledge –albeit indirectly- that tourism has been affected by three months of turmoil in Bangkok. In January – February 2014, Thailand received 4,494,168 international visitors, a decline of 4.09% over the same period of 2013.

To assess the potential damage just for Bangkok, Airports of Thailand (AOT) indicate in its latest available data that traffic to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi felt by 6.5% during the first two months of 2014. Bangkok is the only large airport in Asia to register a decline. At the height of the protest in February, total passengers arrivals declined by 10.1% during the month while international passengers traffic was down by 12.8%.

The recovery is however on the way as the political situation improved considerably. TAT continues to believe that its original 2014 target of 28.6 million international tourist arrivals and foreign exchange revenue of 1.32 trillion Baht can be achieved.

The Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Subregion’ (TTM+) will be an important tool to that recovery. First organised in 2001, the TTM+ is designed primarily to help small and medium sized companies, products and services in Thailand and the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries gain international exposure, especially those who cannot afford to attend the expensive travel trade shows abroad.

The application period for hosted buyers is to close on 31 March, 2014. This year, in addition to buyers from major markets such as, Europe, South East and North East Asia, the United States and Australia, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be focusing heavily on emerging markets like CIS countries, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America, and South Africa.

TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik said, “There is no doubt that small and medium sized companies were affected by the recent political crises, and it is important to help them protect jobs and revenue. We are now forging full-speed ahead with recovery plans. The TTM+ will be an ideal opportunity to bring business back for the rest of the year and help us meet our targets.”

Mr. Thawatchai added, “The full impact of the political unrest on the various source markets is being analysed in detail, along with ongoing consultations with all our industry partners and stakeholders in both the public and private sectors on how best to design a productive and practical programme for TTM+.”

This year, four major products will be highlighted in a special pavilion; Ecotourism, Health and Wellness, Wedding and Honeymoon, and Experience Thainess. The 9 business categories arranged for the event are Hotel / Resort, Tour Operator / Travel Agent, Entertainment, Transportation, Golf Course, Association, NTO, the Greater Mekong Subregion, and Other Travel Services.

Hosted buyers are carefully selected by TAT in cooperation with overseas offices and the private sector. The registration fee is USD300, or 9,600 Baht for each hosted buyer, which includes complimentary return economy flight from international port to port, accommodation (from 3-7 June, 2014), transfers, tours, admission to official functions, and pre-scheduled appointments with exhibitors. Non-hosted international buyers can also attend the TTM+2014 upon payment of a registration fee of USD 200 or 6,400 Baht. They then benefit of all the available services at the show, except flight and accommodation.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews