Skal Pattaya back from the dead

PATTAYA, 26 February 2013: Skal International Thailand confirmed Monday it will reopen its Pattaya and East Thailand club at an event later this week.

Travel professionals from Pattaya and the eastern seaboard, will meet at the Dusit Thani Hotel 1800, 28 February, to revive the club that closed some years due to a failure to meet Skal’s minimum membership requirements.

The new club president is Tony Malhotrathe publisher and CEO of Pattaya Mail Publishing Company.

Skal International Thailand national president, Andrew Wood said: “It has been a long time since we were able to talk SKAL in Pattaya and I am delighted to announce that we will be re-starting SKAL International Pattaya and East Thailand. There has never been a better time in my mind for Pattaya’s travel and tourism executives to have a forum to network and discuss common issues.”

In 2006, Pattaya hosted the 67th Skal World Congress, which was hailed as a great success, but it was not enough to save the local club that sank into oblivion once the event was over.

The 2013 World Congress will take place 28 September to 5 October in New York and the Asian Area Congress 30 May to 2 June in Negombo, Sri Lanka.

Skal International has 18,000 members in 450 clubs in 85 countries and is the only global association that links all branches of the travel and tourism industry, with meetings at local, regional and international levels.

Asked why it was important to have a Skal Club in Pattaya, the incoming president Tony Malhotra said, ” There is a wide and diverse number of new tourism executives stationed in Pattaya; a resort that attracts 3 million visitors annually … it adds up to a need for a professional association that is able to communicate and share knowledge to ensure that Pattaya and East Thailand  prospers… A destination with a Skal Club sends a message to all stakeholders and suppliers that we are serious about the business of tourism.”

Sourced: ttrweekly