7th THAI TOURISM FESTIVAL NOW BIGGER AND BETTER

Thailand’s annual Tourism Festival and Travel Mart 2008 to be held 5-8 June, 2008, at Challenger Hall, Impact Muang Thong Thani Exhibition Centre, is to grow still further this year with the inclusion of exhibitors from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Already the biggest such event in the kingdom, the Thailand Travel Mart (TTM) 2008 Plus Amazing Gateway to Greater Mekong Subregion and Thailand Tourism Festival 2008 (TTF 2008) has grown steadily from being just a Thailand show to a regional show, targetted at both the trade and consumer.

According to TAT Governor Mrs. Phornsiri Manoharn, “This year, for the first time, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) subregion is being incorporated into the event in line with the declaration of the ‘Visit IMT-GT Year 2008’ at the 3rd Summit in Singapore in November 2007.

The inclusion of both buyers and sellers from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand will substantially enhance the appeal and value of attending the show for both trade and consumers, she said.

The IMT-GT areas to be included are the provinces bordering the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. They include:

Indonesia: Banda Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra and South Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung , Riau Island, and Banka-Belitung. Malaysia: Kedah, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor, Negeri Semibilan, Kelantan and Melaka Thailand: Songkha, Satun, Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani.

With their inclusion, this year’s event will grow to about 392 sellers from Thailand and the GMS countries, including 250 hotels and resorts, 32 travel agents and tour operators, 4 ecotourism and adventure operators, 6 wellness and spa, 6 airlines, 10 entertainment, theme park, culture show, 12 golf and other travel products and services, 6 associations and organisations, 16 companies from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and 50 companies from IMT-GT.

They will meet with 487 buyers from 62 countries (as of 16 May 2008), an increase of 33.2% over 2007. Buyers from major markets such as Europe, South East Asia, America and the Pacific comprise 70% of the total and the remaining 17% are from emerging markets such as East Europe, CIS countries, the Middle East and South America.

The 392 hosted buyers have been carefully selected by TAT with cooperation from its overseas offices and private sector. TAT has also invited 80 media from around the world to cover the travel mart as well as participate in the fam trips.

The event is especially important for the small and medium sized enterprises which do not have the large marketing budgets to afford participation in the major international trade shows. This year, 139 exhibitors are SMEs, or 36% of the total.

The official programme will begin on 4 June, 2008, with a welcome reception in the evening at the Royal Jubilee. The business meetings will be held on 5-6 June at the Challenger 3, Impact Muang Thong Thani Exhibition Center and the show will be opened for consumers on June 7-8, 2008.

For the domestic Thai consumers, the highlight will be the Thailand Tourism Festival, the country’s largest travel and tourism showcase event that includes many activities to promote the preservation of Thai culture, traditions and local lifestyle with stage performances and demonstrations of local arts and crafts though four regional villages.

The summer months usually see a slight dip in international visitor arrivals, so this is a good time to promote domestic tourism. The event will feature many interesting activities such as Cultural and Community Life Tourism, Ecotourism, Adventure Tourism, Health Tourism and Tourism that follows the path of His Majesty the King’s sufficiency economy concept.

Cultural performances will highlight each Thai region as well as the neighbouring countries. TAT’s various projects will also be exhibited along with related government projects and academic discussions on tourism subjects.

In addition, other branches of the Thai public and private sectors will also be present, along with tourism organisations and associations, tourism-related businesses and small and medium sized enterprises. Travel agents, airlines, hotels, resorts, arts and crafts makers nationwide will also participate, many of them with special offers exclusively designed to attract visitors to the event.

Consumers will have a chance to meet with travel specialists at this event to answer their queries regarding travelling, i.e. planning your trip, tips and traps. This will be the first time the public will have such an opportunity.

A special fun section area has been arranged where children can enjoy adventure games and develop a love for travel in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way.

Visitors will enjoy various kinds of tourism activities and have a chance to win many exciting prizes. At the main stage, spectacular cultural performances will be held from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, highlighting the best of each Thai region as well the culture and heritage of our neighbouring countries.

TAT is expecting at least 150,000 people to attend throughout the four-day event, generating an estimated 150 million baht, both directly and indirectly.

Mrs Phornsiri said, “We guarantee the event will help visitors find the perfect combination of products and services for their next travel plan, whether it be for leisure or a domestic meeting or convention, adventure travel or incentive. Travelling around the country is a service to the Thai economy because it helps create jobs and distributes income nationwide. Everyone benefits.”

For more details please visit the web site: www.thailandtravelmartplus.com

Contact information:
International Public Relation Division
Tel: +66 (0) 2250 5500 ext. 4545-48
Fax: +66 (0) 2253 7419
E-mail: prdiv3@tat.or.th
web site: www.tatnews.org