Hat Yai, 4 December, 2019 – Thirty-five tour operators from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are to be hosted for a special fam trip and business networking session on 28 November, 2019, to promote five “emerging destination” provinces in South Thailand.
To be organised by the TAT’s ASEAN, South Asia, South Pacific and the South Region, the “Trade Meet: Amazing Thailand FAM Trip from Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore 2019” will be held at the International Convention Centre, Hat Yai, Songkhla.
The event is designed to promote the South Thailand provinces of Phatthalung, Trang, Satun, Songkhla and Nakhon Si Thammarat, which are on the list of the 55 emerging destinations designated by TAT to promote responsible and sustainable tourism, create jobs and generate more equal distribution of income.
The event also fits in with the objectives of promoting travel and tourism both within ASEAN as well as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle sub-region.
Thailand is very well connected by air, road, rail and sea with Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Border crossing facilities have also improved. Low-cost airlines are opening new routes between the secondary cities of the region, and sea travel is being facilitated by ferry services.
TAT has prepared three new routes in the Southern region to introduce the tour operators to new products targeted at the Muslim market, health and wellness groups, women, incentive groups, nature lovers, and family and leisure groups.
On 28 November, the 35 invited tour operators will meet with 44 Thai sellers for a B2B Trade Meet followed by the Amazing Southern Thailand Gala Dinner presided over by the Minister of Tourism and Sports, H.E. Mr. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn.
The tour operators will also attend a Market Briefing by Mr. Klissada Ratanapruk, Executive Director, ASEAN, South Asia & South Pacific and a Product Briefing by Mr. Nithee Seeprae, Executive Director, Southern Region of TAT.
Welcoming remarks at the dinner will be delivered by Mr. Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Deputy Governor forInternational Marketing (Asia and South Pacific).
Between 29-30 November, they will break up into separate groups for visits to numerous cultural and natural attractions along the three selected routes in the five provinces.
According to TAT Governor, Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn “Promoting intra-regional travel is now becoming more important to ensure a better balance in the overall distribution of inbound visitor arrivals. This was part of our target objective in 2019 when Thailand was the Chairman of ASEAN. All the requisite infrastructure is ready in these provinces, which makes it fairly easy to attract short-haul traffic, especially over long weekends and school holiday periods.”
In January – September 2019, arrivals into Thailand from Malaysia totalled 2.96 million, Singapore (737,212) and Indonesia (524,914).
