Polo tours emerge in Thailand

Puro Polo Company is focusing on tours for polo enthusiasts from Argentina that involves either matches or training sessions combined with a 14-day holiday in Thailand.

It is an unusual niche for a travel company that has been established just for one year, but the owners believe there is potential to bring high-end, big spending tourists to Thailand and eventually Malaysia and Singapore.

“There are 600 polo horses in Thailand, alone, of which 90% are from Argentina, which is the leading polo nation in the world,” said Puro Polo managing director, Franco Forastieri, when asked why make Thailand the starting point for his polo tour business.

“There are also three polo clubs in Thailand and the country has many other attractions to offer when the polo sessions are over.”

They are located in Bangkok, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.

Known as the sport of royalty, Polo Sports intends to woo wealthy Agentinians, who have cash to burn and time to spend on their newly acquired hobby, to buy a package to Thailand.

“We will invite people to learn how to play polo while enjoying a holiday. The only two requirements to enrol are they must know how to ride a horse and they have plenty of cash to pay for the experience.”

According to Mr Forastieri, the programme will last 14 days. The first three days will be spent in Bangkok with one full-day for polo training at VR Polo Club, located near Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakarn province, 20 km from Bangkok. The rest of the programme will be dedicated to leisure travel – three nights in Chiang Mai; two nights in Chiang Rai and a week in Phuket.

All the ground handling will be supplied by Pacific Leisure Group, which is the contracted business partner in Asia to promote travel between Asia and South America.

PLG’s Thailand office will coordinate all activities in its 16-country network, while the Hong Kong office plays a key-role in developing business opportunities in China and North Asia.

The price of the programme is Bt60,000 per person for ground handling including city tour and transportation; plus Bt70,000 for fares from Argentina using Malaysian Airlines, Lufthansa or KLM. The company also expects to use Thai Airways International once the airline completes a code- share agreement with South African Airways, at the end of May.

Puro Polo will promote polo tours in Scandinavia, Spain and South America, especially Argentina. Also there are plans to attend trade shows such as FITUR in Spain, ITB in Germany, WTM in England and TUR in Sweden.

Asked about future business expansion in Southeast Asia after Thailand, Mr Franco said the company is already seeking a partner for stage two polo tours to Malaysia and Singapore.