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Sofitel Raja Orchid Khon Kaen received the Silver Kinnari Award for Outstanding Performance from TAT

Emirates’ New Sky chain module keeps customers updated

Sofitel Raja Orchid Khon Kaen received the Silver Kinnari Award for Outstanding Performance from TAT

Ole Nielsen, general manager of Sofitel Raja Orchid Khon Kaen expressed to reporters that the hotel received the Kinnari Award from the Tourism Authority of Thailand category of Tourist Accommodation. This is the second time they received this award and are very proud to be the only hotel in Esarn Province to receive it.

Ole Nielsen, general manager of Sofitel Raja Orchid Khon Kaen and Natthaporn Rojplakorn, public relations manager, pose with the Silver Kinnari Award from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The first Tourism Award presentations took place in 1996, and have been held every 2 years to commend and publicity recognize excellence in tourist sites, accommodations, activities, projects, and mass media connected with the tourism industry, as well as to stimulate co-operation among parties to maintain and develop resources.

The Thailand Tourism Awards are very honorary awards, recognized and supported by the World Tourism and Organization (WTO), and thus have been well accepted as standards of environmental management for the Thai tourism industry.

Thailand Tourism Awards 2003, the fourth competition, judged 6 categories:

1. Award for Tourism Attractions

2. Award for Tourism Accommodation

3. Award for Tour Programs

4. Award for Conservation Organization

5. Award for Conservation Projects

6. Tourism Publicity Award

Each category was separated into 2 levels: Award for Excellence (the Gold Kinnari) and for Outstanding Performance (Silver Kinnari).

On behalf of the management and staff of Sofitel Raja Orchid Khon Kaen, Ole Nielsen said, “We are very proud that we can develop and support Thai tourism. Moreover, we can prove to our guests that we are leading in international services and standards acceptable in the hotel business. We are also the first hotel selected by the Khon Kaen governor to host and provide residence for the APEC Meeting in 2003.”

Emirates’ New Sky chain module keeps customers updated

Sky Chain, Emirates Sky Cargo’s logistics management system has taken a major step forward in making life easier for the airline’s cargo customers with the launch of a new module. Now, customers can receive automatic notification from the airline by SMS or email of the progress of a shipment.

The new module - Automatic Status Notification (ASN) - removes the need for cargo customers to access the tracking module or call the airline to find out what has happened to a shipment.

Niranjan Navaratnarajah, Emirates cargo systems and revenue planning manager said, “This new facility has phenomenal value for the busy shipper or cargo agent. Customers who have seen our demonstration are over the moon about it. A large part of a cargo agent’s day is spent finding out the status of various shipments. With Automatic Status Notification that job is now done for him. It will save him time and money.”

When an agent books a shipment on Sky Chain the customer can instruct the airline to notify him or a third party automatically by SMS or by email when the shipment has cleared the through the different stages of transportation. The menu includes Booking, Shipment Received, Customs Cleared, Notification of Consignee, Delivered, Transferred and Discrepancies.

Emirates Sky Cargo has steadily expanded Sky Chain; the world’s most advanced logistics management system, since it was first launched in 1998. The customer can chat online, print air waybills and barcodes and make claims in addition to checking schedules.

Online bookings have steadily increased since Sky Chain was launched in August of this year. More than 7,000 online bookings were made and total transactions (including trace and tracking and checking schedules) reached 53,000.