Three new TAT offices scheduled for overseas
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to open three new offices abroad this year, aimed at attracting more tourists.
The new offices will be in Moscow, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Ho Chi Minh City, and setting them up will cost at least Bt60 million total. TAT governor Pornsiri Manoharn said the new offices would help the TAT bring more tourists to Thailand. The authority currently has 17 offices abroad. "TAT expects the Moscow and Dubai offices to boost the number of high-end tourists coming to the country, while the Ho Chi Minh office will focus on the expatriate group," Pornsiri said. The authority is also planning to open a Shanghai office next year, its second one in China. The TAT expects 14.8 million tourist arrivals this year, up 8.4 per cent from last year. Sixty-five per cent of them will come from Asian countries. The authority achieved its target of 13.8 million tourists last year. Pornsiri said Thailand's tourism industry - particularly along the Andaman Coast - is recovering from the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. Hotels in Phuket, Krabi and Khao Lak are receiving more bookings directly from travel agents as well as from tourists. "Some hotels in Khao Lak have an 80-per-cent occupancy rate, and that's very much better. Some hotels in Phuket are being overbooked through 2008," Pornsiri said. The TAT and 126 tourism-related operators from Thailand attended the International Tourism Bourse in Germany earlier this month, and Pornsiri said private-sector operators increased their sales 10 per cent as a direct result of the expo. As well, French charter airline OAT is planning to begin flights to Thailand next year, and yet another charter operator will begin flying directly to Surat Thani, benefiting hotels in Chumphon province and on Koh Samui. The number of Russian tourists visiting Pattaya and Phuket should continue to increase, while new markets for Thai tourism are emerging in the Middle East, especially Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran. These visitors usually arrive in the summer and spend their money on food and serviced apartments, she said. The TAT and the Association of Thai Travel Agents are planning road shows in Saudi Arabia and Iran this year.
Suchat Sritama The Nation
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