Bangkok, 06 December, 2017 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently used the Dusit Thani College’s ‘Gracious Hospitality & Tourism International Conference 2017’ to articulate its view of sustainable tourism development in the country.
According to Mr. Tanes Petsuwan, TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, a panellist at a plenary session, Thailand’s tourism sector remains an economic anchor that the country can always depend on during times of trouble.
“Thai hospitality enables Thailand to bounce back quickly after every crisis, including natural disasters; such as, the Boxing Day Tsunami of December 2004, the SARS pan-Asian regional health pandemic or even domestic political stalemates that have influenced past travel patterns.
“While helpful going forward, we also intend to develop a sustainable alternative. The plan is to push the promotion of secondary, unique destinations and to develop tourism sustainability.
“TAT is working on Thai local experiences while encouraging Thais to continue to be good hosts. All combined if successfully implemented should also help to potentially raise the average length of stay for each tourist visiting from overseas or travelling domestically within the Kingdom.”
Dusit Thani College successfully organised its Gracious Hospitality & Tourism International Conference 2017 in Bangkok, from 29 November to 1 December. The event focused on sharing insights and research, as well as practical experiences like that offered by the TAT’s Mr. Tanes. A broad cross section of world-renowned speakers from both public and private sectors provided case studies and solutions to upgrade Thailand’s tourism and hospitality industry, including raising the bar for ‘Gracious Thai Hospitality’.
The conference was moderated by Professor Dimitrios Buhalis of Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, and other key panellists in addition to Mr. Tanes were Andrew Lennox, CEO of Koh Thai Tapas and Professor Jafar Jafari, University of Wisconsin in the United States.
