Around 75 percent of all tourist destinations in Thailand`s six southern provinces affected tsunamis are now ready to …
Around 75 percent of all tourist destinations in Thailand`s six southern provinces affected tsunamis are now ready to open their arms to welcome more tourists, the Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Phornsiri Manoharn, announced.
Mrs. Phornsiri Manohan, who oversees the TAT`s foreign marketing, said that talks with over 100 tourism operators in the six provinces indicated widespread support for an urgent publicity campaign to show visitors that the Andaman area remains a viable tourism option.
Surveys indicate that only around 20 percent of the hotels in the areas were hit by the tsunamis, and that much of the areas remains undamaged.
Mrs. Pornsiri said that tourism operators now hoped to invited target groups of journalists to the areas, and would focus their immediate publicity campaign on the short-haul markets of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
TAT surveys suggest that 75 of the tourism destinations in the Andaman provinces are still marketable in the aftermath of the tsunami.
Mrs. Pornsiri said that the TAT would stimulate the market by inviting tour companies and journalists to the destinations in question, in order to restore tourist confidence.
The first group will arrive from Beijing on 10 January, after which other groups will continue to arrive throughout the month.
A second wave of tour companies and journalists will be invited to the region in March. The TAT also plans to conduct a number of foreign roadshows in many parts of the world, including Scandinavia. Although around 40 percent of visitors on group tours have cancelled their reservations in Thailand following the tsunamis, the TAT says that most independent travellers have decided to keep their bookings in place.
On 11 January, the Tourism Council of Thailand will hold a meeting to determine how tourism destinations in the affected provinces can best be restored.
The council`s chairman, Mr. Wichit Na Ranong, called on the TAT to publish photos of tourists visiting Andaman beaches to show that much of the damage was insignificant, and to pass these photos on to important media organizations, including CNN and the BBC.
Stressing the need to advertise that much of the areas remains normal, he said that foreign countries could help the tsunami relief efforts by sending more of their nationals as tourists to Thailand.
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