news to use GENERAL TOURISM AMBASSADOR Interview with Thailand's Royal...
HRH Princess Ubolratana Mahidol is a long-standing Tourism Ambassador for the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). She spoke exclusively to Selling Long Haul’s Alan Orbell at World Travel Market
A good innings for St. Vincent
BY ALAN ORBELL One destination enjoying an
unprecedented growth in UK visitors this year is St. Vincent and The Grenadines which has seen a 24.7 per cent increase in the first nine months of 2011, to a total of 11,059 visitors. The main island has enjoyed extensive
publicity following the opening of Harlequin’s Buccament Bay, St. Vincent’s first high-end family product. Following the existing football and tennis academies, a new Cricket Academy is to be launched February 11-18 2012 under the patronage of ex-England cricketer Michael Vaughan. Prices for a seven-night holiday during
this week are from £7400 through ITC Classics and Caribtours. St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Tourism Office’s director of sales, Barbara Mercury, credits the visitor increase to a number of factors. “Harlequin has had a very aggressive
marketing campaign and Palm Island has also done a lot of marketing. The yachting sector has shown some uplift and two-centre holidays combining St
What does your role as Tourism Ambassador mean to you? It means a great deal to me and was one of the first projects I got involved with when I returned to Thailand from America 10 years ago. As a Tourism Ambassador I get to travel and I very much enjoy going outside Thailand to promote my country and to let people know what we have to offer.
Part of Responsible Tourism to Thailand includes community-based projects. I understand you have set up a programme called 'To Be Number One'. Can you tell us more about this? The programme is an anti-drug project offering prevention and therapy for children and teenagers aged 10 to 24. The idea is to make them change
their attitude and to help them avoid peer pressure. We have set up a club called the Mickey Mouse Club, with several million members that offers them a range of alternative activities. I also have TV programmes. It takes time to change attitudes. Thais imitate and look up to movie stars and
12 December 2011 •
www.sellinglonghaul.com
it’s important for us to get across the message that taking drugs is not cool.
Can you tell me about the 'Miracle of Life' project which, I understand, is a charity that has been helping flood victims in Thailand? This is an evolving project which is trying to help those caught up in natural disasters by providing food, help with lodging and providing portable bathrooms, etc. The floods have been very bad but are now receding.
Are there any other major projects you are working on at the moment? Yes, seven years ago we set up the Khun Poom Foundation that helps people with learning difficulties, especially autistic children.
Do you have any travel tips for Selling Long Haul readers? Simply for them and their clients to visit Thailand, smile and be friendly! Across the country Thailand really has so much to offer, not least the fabulous shopping!
Denver now connected via Iceland Denver, Colorado, hopes to see a
new rush of UK visitors arriving via four weekly Icelandair flights. The new service is via Reykjavik,
which connects Iceland’s capital to the UK. Beginning May 11, the Icelandair flights from the UK will have a one- hour layover before the seven-hour flight on to Denver. Reasons to visit The Mile High City include the recently-opened Clyfford Still Museum, which is currently displaying a previously unseen collection of modern art, and The Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which has a new T-Rex 'encounter'. The Denver Museum of art will host a
Yves Saint Laurent exhibit from March to July 2012 and Denver Zoo has a new Asian Experience exhibit. Rocky Mountain National Park, with its
range of winter and summer attractions, is just a short drive from Denver.
www.icelandair.co.uk
Saint Lucia’s new app-titude
BY STEVE HARTRIDGE The Saint Lucia Tourist Board
unveiled its multi-platform tourism mobile site and app at WTM. Go Saint Lucia Mobile, free to
download on both the iPhone and Android operating systems – Blackberry will be available in the coming weeks – is designed to enhance the visitor experience both on and off island, allowing tourists to book tables at restaurants, reserve a tee time on a golf course, charter a yacht, hire a taxi, discover the best beaches and learn the inside track on where to go, what to see and how to get there. Saint Lucia is the largest of the Windward Islands, at 27 miles long and 14 miles wide. The island’s Hewanorra Airport is served by 10 weekly non-stop flights from London-Gatwick, operated by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Those without a smart phone can also access the information and offers at
www.GoSaintLuciaMobile.com;
www.saintlucianow.co.uk
Vincent and the Grenadines with other Caribbean islands are also doing well. “The tourist office will intensify its presence and marketing efforts during 2012 and we also plan to stage more roadshows.” Other new developments include the
reopening of Petit St. Vincent Private Island with 22 luxury cottages, now with air-conditioning and a spa; a further 24 villas in Canouan Resort, now under the same management as Barbados’ Sandy Lane; and, in late 2013/ early 2014, a new international airport.
www.discoversvg.com
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