INTERVIEW THAILAND
SIRIPAKORN CHEAWSAMOOT In Person With...
Selling Long Haul’s Alan Orbell talks to Tourism Authority of Thailand’s London director, Siripakorn Cheawsamootabout, about the floods and prospects for 2012
Siripakorn Cheawsamoot Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand
Selling Long Haul: Can you give us an update on the flood situation in Bangkok and beyond? Siripakorn Cheawsamoot: The only
area of Thailand which currently is still closed for tourism is the ancient capital of Ayutthaya but even here the situation is improving daily. Tours are being diverted away from this area for now. Otherwise the centre of Bangkok is completely open for business. It is also important to note that the beaches of Southern Thailand such as Phuket and Ko Samui have not been affected by the floods at all.
I believe the Foreign Office has recently changed its advice on travel to Thailand. What is it saying now? Yes the Foreign Office has now revised its advice and no longer advises against travelling to Bangkok. Both Northern Thailand and Southern Thailand have not had any advisory against travel. Bangkok’s International Airport remains open with business as usual
How are you expecting final 2011 figures for ex-UK tourism to look? In the first six months of 2011 we saw a slight year or year increase with nearly 400,000
people visiting Thailand from the UK. We also saw a healthy increase in UK tourism spending for the first half of the year, up 13.5 per cent.
How much impact did the floods have on advance bookings and cancellations? There have been relatively few cancellations as most people have simply re-routed around Bangkok continuing to visit both North and South of Thailand which were not affected by the floods. Last-minute bookings for 2011 travel have been affected but we are still confident of a strong performance in the first quarter of 2012.
And what are your expectations for 2012 visitor numbers? We are hoping to see an increase in 2012 of around 5%.
Will TAT be undertaking any special marketing once the floods are a sad memory?We are currently putting together a press mega fam trip to show Bangkok and the rest of Thailand is open for business and we hope Selling Long Haul will join us on this trip!
What will be the main themes of TAT’s marketing for 2012? We will continue to focus on the student, honeymoon, luxury and responsible tourism markets with a greater emphasis on attracting families, a segment where we have started to see
"It is also important to note that the beaches of Southern Thailand have not been affected by the floods at all"
some very encouraging results over the last couple of years.
Are there any significant new features or infrastructure changes that agents should be aware of for 2012? One of Thailand’s great strengths is that our hotel and attractions products are continually evolving and upgrading. Just a couple of examples; take a look
at The Siam, Bangkok’s newest five-star offering on the river, and The Surin Phuket (formerly known as The Chedi) which recently completed an impressive refurbishment.
Above: The newly refurbished Surin Phuket Hotel with, left, a Chinese Villa bedroom in Bangkok's new five-star Siam hotel
How important is the Travel Uni Thailand training programme in helping agents sell Thailand? This is a key part of our support for the UK travel trade and sits alongside an expanded trade roadshow programme visiting 11 cities and a new programme of Touchdown special-offer holidays. We’ve just published the 2012 edition of the annual Thailand Travel Guide and agents should also look out for our Selling Long Haul trade launch party in January with Thai Airways and Travel 2. Thailand’s success has always been built
on a great relationship with the UK travel trade, something which we will continue to work hard to maintain. I would like to take this opportunity
to thank all our friends in the UK for their amazing support.
www.sellinglonghaul.com • December 2011 13
© THE SIAM BANGKOK
THE SURIN PHUKET
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