Ministry to promote sports tourism

BANGKOK Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports will showcase  sport tourism products at the World Travel Market in London, 2 to 5 November.

Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said the ministry will introduce a sports tourism theme at WTM London to underscore the country’s ability to host large-scale sporting events and attract visitors who wish to pursue a specific sport while on holiday.

“Thailand has a potential to attract athletes from Europe and ASEAN…many destinations in the country have sport facilities for example Chonburi, Pattaya and Phuket,” she said.

The minister hopes Pattaya’s negative image could be balanced off it attracted sporting events.

The ministry is considering ways to improve marine sports at all major resorts including Phuket in the south, which has potential to host international events.

It is already renowned for its yacht regattas.

Golf is by far the most popular sport for visitors visiting Thailand, due to the variety of top-class courses, across the country, the relatively low-cost of a game and the proximity of quality hotel accommodation.

January to July this year, the country attracted 17,504,204 international visits increasing 30.93% from 13,368,979 visits during the same period last year.

Thailand tourism industry is still on track to reach 28.8 million visits and THB2.2 trillion in revenue by year-end, although tourism was shaken by the explosion at the Erawan Shrine, 17 August.

Last year, the Kingdom attracted 24.80 million visits down 6.54% from 26.54 million visits in 2013. Tourism revenue generated THB1.17 trillion, last year, a decline of 2.85% from THB1.20 trillion in 2013. The May 2014 military coup was blamed for the poor performance.

sourced:ttrweekly.com