ATTA president outlines plans

BANGKOK, 25 July 2011 – Thailand’s leading travel agency association says it will build business for its members by helping them prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community that rolls out 2015.

That was the pledge made by the Association of Thai Travel Agents’ acting president, Sidivachr Cheewarattanaporn, who outlined the association’s policy statement for 2012 at a meeting Thursday.

“ATTA needs to move forward to build business benefits for members, following the resignation of Surapol Sritrakul, last month who was president of the association for two years 2009 to 2010,” Mr Sidivachr explained.

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Thomas Cook takes a plunge

LONDON, 13 July 2011 – Shares in British travel group Thomas Cook plunged 27% Tuesday after it issued a gloomy profits warning blamed on weak consumer sentiment and ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Thomas Cook’s share price collapsed by 27.14% to stand at 89.40 pence in London morning deals, as the group added that it would begin a wide-ranging strategic review of its struggling British division.

The firm said in a trading update that there would be an earnings shortfall in the third quarter, or three months to the end of June, which would leave its full-year profits behind previous company expectations. Read more

ATTA agents report gains

BANGKOK, 12 July 2011 – Association of Thai Travel Agents’ members handled 1,505,160 international tourists at Suvarnabhumi Airport during the first half year of 2011 representing an increase of 48.92% over 1,010,705 visits during the same period last year.

ATTA released its latest data, Monday, based on fees member agencies pay to the airport to provide a meet-and-greet service for international clients.

The top tourist market for ATTA agents was China with 313,268 trips. It represented a 125.07% increase over 139,184 trips during the same period last year. Read more

Ministry backs agents in visa scandal

BANGKOK, 7 July 2011 – Thai Travel Agents Association revealed, Tuesday, it has succeeded in gaining a promise from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to seek clarification from European ambassadors on travel industry allegations of prejudicial treatment when Thai people apply for a Schengen Visa.

TTAA has collected complaints from 50 travel agents who claimed specific embassies were causing serious delays and inconvenience in obtaining visas for group travel to Europe.

A meeting was held, last week, with the foreign ministry resulting in a promise to act as a mediator between ambassadors at specific European embassies and the association.

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Ministry upgrades guide training

BANGKOK, 7 July 2011 – Department of Tourism, which is supervised by Ministry of Tourism and Sports, will improve tour guide skills in the lead-up to adopting the ASEAN Economic Community 2015.

The department’s general director, Supol Sripan, said strengthening tour guide standards was a priority to raise Thailand’s competitiveness among neighbour countries.

Mr Supol admitted tour guide’s skill particularly in foreign languages was a challenge.

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Naga tales spur tourism

BANGKOK, 5 July 2011 – Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Udon Thani office links tourism with folklore in a new package that promotes the trail of the legendary Naga’ the northeast office reported last Friday.

The TAT Udon Thani office is selling the idea to mainly domestic travellers to beef up the province’s attractions in tourism. It combines five places that local people believe are related to the folklore serpent, Naga in and around the provinces of Udon Thani and Nong Khai.

According to TAT Udon Thani office, the programme is suitable for adventure lovers because the trail takes visitors through caves and over difficult terrain to reach the sites. Read more

Nepal’s appeal low in Thai market

BANGKOK, 30 June 2011 – Nepal is a difficult to sell as a single destination for Thai outbound travellers, travel agents told TTR Weekly earlier this week.

Commenting on Nepal’s Visit Year 2011, promotional road show that swung through Southeast Asia earlier in the month, Bangkok-based travel agents said it was almost an impossible task to promote the country as a single destination in the Thai market.

Travellers prefer a combined tour that includes India and focuses on the Buddhist heritage trail, tracing the life of the Lord Buddha at sites in northern India and southern Nepal. Read more

ATTA back with a monthly meeting

BANGKOK, 29 June 2011 – Association of Thai Travel Agents revived its monthly meetings, 28 June, after being forced to cancel two previous meetings (28 April and 26 May) due to a legal complaint that alleged electoral fraud in the association’s elections 24 March.

The complaint stated the association allowed the use of unauthorised proxy votes, and that the elections should be declared null and void.

At yesterday’s meeting, Mr Sisdivachr said “this is the first monthly meeting of the new committee, which indicates the association is back to normal. After this the association will hold monthly meetings as scheduled.”

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Tiger Trail travels to Chiang Mai

BANGKOK, 24 June 2011 — Tiger Trail Outdoor Adventures, a Luang Prabang-based soft-adventure company will establish its head office in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1 July.

Tiger Trail Outdoor Adventures was founded in Luang Prabang in 2000. It focuses mainly on soft adventure tourism in northern Laos, but some programme extend to neighbouring Vietnam and Cambodia

Tiger Trail director, Markus Neuer said: “The expansion to Thailand is a logical next step for us …. Our expertise from Laos, combined with knowledge of Thai tourism will give us a chance to quickly develop nationwide,” said Mr Neuer. Read more

Exotissimo adds Mekong tours

BANGKOK, 22 June 2011 – Exotissimo Travel launched three new trips to relatively unknown destinations in Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, the company announced Monday.

The three new trips feature Phong Nha Caves in Vietnam, Viengxay in northern Laos and the Myeik archipelago in Myanmar and are part of an initiative to open travel to secondary destinations in the Mekong region.

A two-day/one night tour features Phong Nha Caves in Vietnam, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Phong Nha National Park. The nearest town is Dong Hoi a capital city of Quang Binh province on the northern central coast of Vietnam.

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