Hyderabad votes beat Bangkok

BANGKOK  Skål International Hyderabad Chapter won the bid to host Skål World Congress in Hyderabad in 2017.
It beat short-listed opponent, Bangkok, by a few crucial votes, cast during the general assembly at the Skål World Congress held in Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain, last week.
India’s online travel trade media, Breaking News, confirmed Skål Hyderabad Chapter president, Vijay Mohan Raj, made the successful presentation to the general assembly that swung the vote in favour of an Indian venue for the first time in association’s long history.
An estimated 1,500 travel executives from over 80 countries will attend the congress, 5 to 8, 2017.
inside no 9Skål has 16,893 members in 403 clubs in 89 countries, mainly representing hotels, airlines and travel agents.
Bangkok’s bid to host the congress was led by Skål Bangkok president, Dale Lawrence, with a high-profile support team from the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan Authority’s tourism office and the Thailand Conventions and Exhibitions Bureau, which was prepared to underwrite a substantial part of hosting costs.
Responding to email questions from TTR Weekly, Skål Bangkok’s president, Dale Lawrence said: “Many congratulations to Hyderabad. Whilst we are disappointed that Bangkok was not selected as the host city there is no doubt that Hyderabad will prove to be a very exciting and popular venue.”
“To show support and solidarity to our friends in India I have proposed that we twin our two clubs and my counterpart in Hyderabad has accepted enthusiastically. This is an important step as we seek to strengthen still further the ties between Skål clubs in Thailand and India and I have pledged our full support to their World Congress in 2017.”
It is possible, a Thailand delegation will bid for a future congress, but probably not until 2019 or later.
Congress headings
2016: Monaco
2017: Hyderabad
2018: Probably Mombasa (postponed this year because of security concerns)
2019: Americas or Pacific region?

sourced:ttrweekly.com