DIA ships in top bloggers

Digital Innovation Asia’s CEO, Jens Thraenhart makes an impassioned plea for travel professionals to support his Blogger Match-up event, 2 June, to be hosted in the Thai capital just ahead of the country’s TTM travel mart.

“Let’s face it: Times are tough right now in Thailand. Tourist numbers have dropped in Bangkok since the political unrest started last October, and now due to martial law, military coup, and a curfew, the entire country has experienced empty streets after 2200,” he said in an editorial to drum up support for his event.

The political crisis forced him to postpone two events that were scheduled for next week to September; a marketing boot camp on social media and the DIA annual innovative awards.

Despite the set backs, he said there are “reasons for optimism. In many other countries, a coup would be result in bloodshed, alarm, mass fights, and refugee camps. but not in Thailand.”

He quoted Martin Craigs, CEO of Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) who commented: “The day-time tourism experience in Thailand, despite the imposition of martial law and the curfew hasn’t substantially changed. People who I have spoken to since returning to Bangkok at the weekend believe the country is safer due to the military coup, and believe in the short term it will bring order and in the medium term hopefully political reconciliation.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is going forward with Thailand Travel Mart (TTM+), their annual travel trade show on 4 to 6 June, hosting travel agents and media from all over the world.

Thraenhart goes on to state that he has the full endorsement of TAT and ASEAN (ASEANTA), PATA, SKAL, and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Blogger match up will bring in 20 influential travel bloggers recruited by Digital Innovation Asia to a kind of speed dating event that will facilitate face-to-face discussions with travel suppliers who need a travel plug.

The event is being hosed by Marriott Sukhumvit Thonglor and clearly the objective to give travel suppliers an opportunity to leverage advertorial and promotions from bloggers who communicate the travel experience to consumers.

The first Blogger Matchup event, was held in 2013 in Bangkok, sponsored by TAT.

One testimonial reads: “Digital Innovation Asia and Blogger Matchup is without a doubt one of the most outstanding and relevant events in Asia to connect travel writers, bloggers, and social media professionals with the tourism industry. Unlike other similar international events, a rigorous selection process is in place via the BloggerMatchup.com search-engine.”

Thraenhart said he has been “working for over six months to recruit some of the most influential, passionate, and relevant travel bloggers from Europe, North America, Australia, Asia, as well as China.”

The challenge now is to boost attendance from hotels, tour operators, golf courses, spas, restaurants, retail, river cruises, and attractions to get engaged with these bloggers to send the message out that “Thailand is a safe and exciting tourism destination.”

Digital Innovation Asia COO, Olivier Dombey, urged travel companies to get involved in Blogger Matchup to support Thailand tourism and become a partner to make the initiative as impactful it can be.

He explained: “We made a tough decision to postpone the DIA Awards and the E-Tourism Asia Boot Camp to 1 September in order to fully focus on the successful execution of Blogger Matchup 2 June. Due to our strong relationships and endorsement with the public and private tourism sector, we are actively working on bringing the Blogger Matchup event and the E-Tourism Asia Boot Camps to other destinations in the Asia Pacific region to help with digital capacity building and innovative destination promotion via storytelling.”

More information can be found at www.diASIAevents.com and limited spots are available to connect with bloggers during Blogger Matchup on June 2 at the Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit Thonglor. DIA is supported by media partners including 4Hoteliers, eGlobal Travel Media, TravelDailyNews.asia, TTR Weekly, Travel Mole, and Bangkok 101.

Sourced: TravelDailyNews