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Fifty Canadian travel agents discover the joys of Pattaya
Agents so impressed with the charms of the kingdom they can hardly wait to return
Suchada Tupchai
Pattaya City recently hosted 50 Canadian travel agents
who came to take a look around the area and spread the good word. The
visitors, under the auspices of Cathay Pacific, paid a first-time visit to
the city as part of a plan to include it on their tourism route.
Kate
Proudfoot (right), an international travel consultant with Flight Center and
Setthaphan Buddhani, Tourism Authority of Thailand New York branch director.
The group was led by Setthaphan Buddhani, Tourism
Authority of Thailand New York branch director, and the first place they
went is lovely Pai Island off Pattaya shores.
To give the agents a really warm welcome, a dinner party
was arranged under the theme “Tale of Two Cities Partnership” at the
Sunset Terrace, Royal Cliff Beach Resort Pattaya. Formalities were led by
Khun Panga Vathanakul, managing director of Royal Cliff Beach Resort Pattaya,
Mayor Pairat Suttithamrongsawat, Manit Boonchim, director of Tourism
Authority of Thailand (Region 3), and other distinguished guests.
The
happy and fun group of Canadian travel agents pose outside the Sunset
Terrace at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort Pattaya.
Setthaphan said, “This is the first time the Canadian
agents group under Cathay Pacific has had the opportunity to see so much of
Thailand. We have been to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other provinces. TAT wants
to expand into the Canadian tourism market. Hong Kong was previously a
favorite destination for Canadians and Thailand’s major rival. Hong Kong
and Thailand now have a trade partners’ agreement which promotes
cooperation in this sector rather than rivalry.
“TAT wants Canadians to discover Thailand, its unique
culture, traditions, the friendliness of its people and the many sites and
activities it has to offer. Canadian tourists that do come to Thailand are
spreading the word about how impressed they are with the country. That is
how good public relations work,” Setthaphan said.
Besides the luxurious dinner at the Sunset Terrace,
students from Pattaya School No. 9 entertained the guests with a spectacular
Thai cultural show which included variations on Thai traditional dance.
Ray Mitchell, president of Goliger’s Travel Plus from
Vancouver said, “Although it was an arduous trip, the presentations by the
local people and the hospitality has got everyone talking. It’s been
great. I can hardly wait to return.”
Ray added that he intends to bring a lot of people to
Thailand once he begins the promotions back in Canada. His target group will
be the “active but mature” tourists around 50 years old. He mentioned
“still active” because the journey is tiring since it involves a 20-hour
flight to Hong Kong before going on to Thailand.
Kate Proudfoot, an international travel consultant with
Flight Center echoed Ray’s sentiments on the whirlwind tour saying that
she was overwhelmed by the hospitality and the friendliness and will
definitely recommend Pattaya to her clients.
Setthaphan ‘Eddie’ Buddhani moved to TAT’s New York
Office almost three years ago after spending 6 years in Pattaya and more or
less swapping places with Manit Boonchim, current director of the TAT Office
Central Region 3; located on Pratamnak Hill.
Worldwide TAT promotions cover the business and convention sector which
includes MICE (Meetings Incentive Conventions and Exhibitions). Recently
broadening its scope, Thailand is now a medical destination where visitors
can have cosmetic or other surgery in five-star facilities at a fraction of
the cost in their home countries.
Sri Lankan Airlines hosts seminar for tour and travel agents in Pattaya
Suchada Tupchai
Sri Lankan Airlines recently organized a seminar to share
its latest information with Pattaya’s travel and tour agents. Held at the
Amari Orchid Resort, and opened by Rohan Seneviratne, country manager for
Sri Lankan Airlines, over 100 people were in attendance.
Many of
Pattaya’s best travel agents attended the seminar and received first hand
information about Sir Lankan Airlines.
Rohan
Seneviratne, country manager for Sri Lankan Airlines, held a seminar in
Pattaya to announce the airline’s newest plans.
The seminar included the latest products, services and
pricing for the airline as well the latest innovations and developments in
the industry and current promotions on offer.
Once the formalities were completed, travel agents were
then treated to dinner, drinks and entertainment.
The latest promotion, ‘Shock Sales’ features a return
ticket for Bangkok-Hong Hong-Bangkok for just 4,950 baht, with a minimum of
two seats booked and paid. The offer runs until March 31st of this year.
Sri Lankan Airlines currently runs 4 flights per week to
Colombo from Bangkok on their A330 aircraft and on to other destinations in
Europe including London, Paris and the Maldives.
The airline also runs tours for those interested in Sri Lankan culture
and the many sacred Buddhist monuments within the island country. These
tours also cater to the Thai market, where Thai nationals are able to gain a
1-month visa from the embassy. Flight time from Bangkok to Colombo is just 3
hours.
Russian Far East Travel delegation group visits Pattaya
Suchada Tupchai
The Russian Far East Travel Delegation Group, led by
Vassili Travel Co. Ltd. and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) paid a
recent visit to Pattaya City. The group was on a tour of major tourist
destinations in Thailand so that they can recommend the kingdom to clients.
The
Russian Far East Travel Delegation Group visited Pattaya on their whirlwind
tour of Thailand.
Manit Boonchim, Tourism Authority of Thailand Region 3
director, welcomed the group and briefed them on what Pattaya has to offer
tourists.
Before arriving in Pattaya the group had already made
journeys to Bangkok, Phuket, Kanchanaburi, Ratchaburi, Nakhonpathom and
other provinces.
During their stay in Pattaya, the Russian group visited Nong Nooch Garden
Tropical and Alcazar Cabaret Show. They very impressed with Pattaya’s
exciting atmosphere, facilities and cosmopolitan character. All said they
would highly recommend Thailand as a holiday venue, particularly Pattaya.
Travel business operators in Pattaya meet to find solution to the guarantee fees imposed by TAT
Most hotel operators object to the fees, saying they are unfair
Veerachai Somchart
According laws applied to the tourism business sector, a
company must pay a guarantee. Those who do not put up the bond and find
themselves taken advantage of by another company will not be able to seek
financial help from TAT.
TAT
Region 3 Deputy Director Athaphol Vannakit
The TAT imposes guarantee fees on the tourism industry to
guarantee that companies engaged in the tourism sector pay all bills
incurred by their clients and company.
However, not all tourist related companies feel this is
fair, so TAT Region 3 Deputy Director Athaphol Vannakit, and Tourism
Business and Tour Guide Bureau director, Viriya Kertphol recently chaired a
meeting to discuss these guarantee fees.
Held at Siam Bayshore Resort, the meeting included
representatives from hotels, restaurants, tour guide companies, and
attraction tour guides.
During the meeting it was revealed that rogue tour
companies often cheat hotels and restaurants out of charges for room, food
and drinks. Then the companies close down their operations and flee their
debts. Opening up under another name, they return to the sector and cheat
more companies.
However, many business operators who have good
reputations and have established solid working relations in the tourist
industry and have impeccable records, and therefore feel it is unfair they
should put up a guarantee bond because of the cheating done by fly-by-night
organizations.
Suwat Phaepiromrat, president of the Pattaya Hotel Club
said he disagreed with the proposal of forcing all hotels to pay guarantee
fees because in most of the cases in the past, it was the tour guide
companies that cheated millions of baht from the hotels. These companies
later on closed down and debts for the hotels became un-collectible.
Surat Mekavarakul, Pattaya Business and Tourism
Association president said the guarantee fees collected from the hotels
might create unfairness to the hotel operators and he was certain that these
operators would object to the proposal.
Surat suggested that the government should intervene to
financially support the hotel businesses or set up a quasi-government
organization to provide financial guarantees for them instead of charging
fees.
Viriya Kertphol said recently TAT representatives met
with business operators in Chiang Mai and Phuket to discuss the matter.
Viriya said it was obvious that those operators agreed to pay for the
guarantee fees because at least they would get some money in return if
anything went wrong between the hotels and tour guide businesses. In the
past some of cases of business cheating went to court and the money paid to
the hotels was not even 50% of the damage.
Viriya said in March he would talk to more tourism
business operators in other regions to find a clearer solution and present
it to the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Chadej
Insawang, and Sonthaya Khunpluem, Minister of Tourism and Sports and let
them sort out the final decision.
Viriya said Pattaya City tourism business operators, mainly hotels and
restaurants, suffered the most. If these operators did not agree with the
proposal, there might be some adjustment in regulation, but the final
decision must come from Khun Sonthaya.
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