TCT backs tourism policy committee

11 Jun 2014  2055 | World Travel News

Tourism Council of Thailand has called on the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to revive the defunct National Tourism Policy Committee to tackle the tough situation facing tourism.
TCT president, Piyaman Techapaibul, said tourism experts agreed last week that the junta should reconvene the National Tourism Policy Committee but with a new members. The committee was disbanded after the 22 May coup.
The president said: “The top priority for the Thai tourism sector is to restore the country’s image and relay correct information concerning the domestic situation to foreign travellers.”
She pointed out that the work could be led by the National Tourism Policy Committee. However, the committee has sidelined since the House dissolution and coup. According to legislation, the Prime Minister serves as its chairman but that would not be possible to one is appointed by the NCPO following the establishment of a Legislative Assembly.
“The NCPO should appoint a suitable individual to head the committee, along with a team of secretaries,” TCT stated.
“The committee would integrate policies and act as the main mechanism in laying down a clear tourism development strategy. Then tourist confidence would be restored and Thailand would be able to maintain its tourism revenue target this year.
“The tourism industry needs the committee to be reactivated to address three problems – tourism budget management, low confidence and illegal businesses like taxis and jet ski scams,” she said.
Actually none of these problems were resolved under the previous government’s committee. Law enforcement agencies preferred to ignore the law rather than clamp down on mafia-like gangs that run taxis and other services at tourist resorts.
Comments by tourists on Thaivisa.com and other blog sites would suggest that they are more concerned about their security when taking taxis and they fear being cheated by taxi drivers who refuse to turn on meters. This far outweighs their concerns about post coup national safety.

Sourced: ttrweekly

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