PHUKET: Phuket is in the top three earning provinces for Thailand and contributes 30 percent of Thailand's income from tourism, a media conference was told yesterday.
Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor Juthaporn Rerngron-Asa told the gathering that Phuket was responsible for 137 billion baht of Thailand's 570 billion baht income from tourism.
And Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha made the point that Phuket was developing special events - at least one a month - to ensure that the island continued to hold its important position among tourism income earners.
Phuket's Andaman Travel Trade Exhibition from November 25-26 next week in the auditorium hall at Phuket Rajabhat University in Phuket City is likely to be the most important of the five annual events so far.
It's all about ''business matching,'' bringing together buyers and sellers, and this year the TAT anticipates that 320 agents and media will fly in to talk to Phuket and Andaman tourism businesses.
The local audience is expanding for the first time this year from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi to include Ranong, Satun and Trang as well.
As Khun Juthaporn said, one of the aims is to bring back tourists who once enjoyed their visits to Phuket, but who stopped coming when Phuket started growing.
Her message was that the provinces beyond Phuket now offer the magic that could once only be found on Phuket.
While the European financial crisis has affected Phuket and Thailand tourism, Europeans still accounted for 37.14 percent of the travellers to Phuket, with the Asian market accounting for 43.68 percent.
Efforts are being made to work with Qatar Airlines to attract more tourists to Phuket from Brazil and Argentina, as well as generally drive traffic from the rising BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economic community of up-and-comers.
Poland is also growing in importance. Khun Juthaporn, as Deputy Governor for International Marketing, is responsible for driving trade from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the US.
Thailand continued to be appealing to Europeans because it was still good value when compared to other destinations, she said.
An effort was also being made to win back tourists from Taiwan, who visited Phuket in large numbers before 2005 but had not recovered interest in Phuket after the tsunami.
Next week's exhibition is aimed especially at helping small and medium enterprises who cannot afford the relatively large expenditure of going on a travelling road show.
The media conference was held yesterday at Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket City.
Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor Juthaporn Rerngron-Asa told the gathering that Phuket was responsible for 137 billion baht of Thailand's 570 billion baht income from tourism.
And Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha made the point that Phuket was developing special events - at least one a month - to ensure that the island continued to hold its important position among tourism income earners.
Phuket's Andaman Travel Trade Exhibition from November 25-26 next week in the auditorium hall at Phuket Rajabhat University in Phuket City is likely to be the most important of the five annual events so far.
It's all about ''business matching,'' bringing together buyers and sellers, and this year the TAT anticipates that 320 agents and media will fly in to talk to Phuket and Andaman tourism businesses.
The local audience is expanding for the first time this year from Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi to include Ranong, Satun and Trang as well.
As Khun Juthaporn said, one of the aims is to bring back tourists who once enjoyed their visits to Phuket, but who stopped coming when Phuket started growing.
Her message was that the provinces beyond Phuket now offer the magic that could once only be found on Phuket.
While the European financial crisis has affected Phuket and Thailand tourism, Europeans still accounted for 37.14 percent of the travellers to Phuket, with the Asian market accounting for 43.68 percent.
Efforts are being made to work with Qatar Airlines to attract more tourists to Phuket from Brazil and Argentina, as well as generally drive traffic from the rising BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) economic community of up-and-comers.
Poland is also growing in importance. Khun Juthaporn, as Deputy Governor for International Marketing, is responsible for driving trade from Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the US.
Thailand continued to be appealing to Europeans because it was still good value when compared to other destinations, she said.
An effort was also being made to win back tourists from Taiwan, who visited Phuket in large numbers before 2005 but had not recovered interest in Phuket after the tsunami.
Next week's exhibition is aimed especially at helping small and medium enterprises who cannot afford the relatively large expenditure of going on a travelling road show.
The media conference was held yesterday at Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket City.
Since TAT has absolutely no way to determine how much tourists spend, these numbers are total fiction.
Posted by larry on November 19, 2011 07:22