The Department of Health Service Support is pinning its hopes on the spa and massage industry reviving Thailand`s sluggish tourism industry in its Andaman provinces…
The Department of Health Service Support is pinning its hopes on the spa and massage industry reviving Thailand`s sluggish tourism industry in its Andaman provinces hit by last December`s tsunami, the department`s director-general revealed.
Dr. Rewat Wisarutwet told reporters that the department was funding a Bt6.6 million project to provide massage and spa training for 2,950 workers whose jobs were affected when the tsunami hit the country`s Andaman region on 26 December.
Over the past three years, Thailand`s spa industry is thought to have attracted nearly 3 million foreign tourists, earning the country Bt3.6 billion in foreign revenue.
Sixty percent of this revenue has come from spa operations in the Andaman area.
But the December tsunami destroyed 114 of the region`s 247 spa operations, with the result that the industry has plunged into rapid decline.
Under the training programme, spa industry workers are receiving 10 days of skills training from 27 April – 13 May, with the training focusing on the techniques of oil massage, aromatherapy and Thai herbal massage.
Also included in the training programme is a course on English language skills.
Dr. Rewat said that the programme hoped to pull in Bt2 billion to the Andaman spa industry this year.
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