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Skål National Committee – the 28th Annual Meeting of the Skål Clubs of Thailand
Newly elected National
President Malai (centre), along with (from left) Andrew Khoo - director,
National Secretary Robert Lee, Somsak Kiratipanich - director, Lilli Saxer -
representing Chiang Mai, Horst Honing - director of PR and Andrew J Wood -
international councillor, Thailand.
Andrew J Wood
The AGM of the Skål National Committee recently took place at the 5 star
Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa. The busy one day programme included the annual
board meeting and the election of a new National Committee.
Among the various projects and individual club reports there were common
discussions on membership including fund raising, member’s directory
updates, the celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Skål movement in
Thailand and the upcoming 67th World Congress 2006 in Pattaya.
 Pictured
above receiving his Skål certificate from Secretary Bob Lee is Hilton GM
Thomas Hoeborn.
That evening, in the strong hopes of inaugurating a new club which if
approved will be known as Skål International Hua Hin & Cha Am, the Hilton
Hotel and the national president played host to potential members. A
stunning gourmet Chinese dinner was presented, under the personal guidance
of Thomas Hoeborn, general manager. More than 20 Skålleagues, press and
friends joined the national committee on this auspicious first get together.
It is the hope of President Malai Sakolviphak to have the new Hua Hin club
up and running in time for the World Congress in Pattaya.
There are currently 5 Skål Clubs in Thailand: Chiang Mai, Bangkok, Samui,
Pattaya & East Thailand and Phuket.
Message from the newly appointed International Councillor
Skål International Thailand
Andrew J Wood
“It is a tremendous personal honour to have been recently elected
International Councillor for Thailand. I will do my utmost to proudly live
up to the responsibility of representing Thailand and the National
President, Khun Malai Sakolviphak, at the Skål Council. I hope you will be
equally proud of our efforts in the years to come.
 Andrew
J Wood, International Councillor, Skål International Thailand.
“The former Kingdom of Siam, known today as Thailand, is a land rich in
history; culture and heritage. Thai people are immensely proud and loyal,
with a welcoming smile to beat no other. This country, which I have called
my home for more than 15 years, has a population of 62 million. Young and
old share their love for their monarchy, their Buddhist beliefs and their
country, all of which are symbolized in the three colours of the Thai
national flag.
“Thailand is proud to be the host of the 67th Skål World Congress in Pattaya
October 15-20, 2006. We invite Skålleagues from around the world to not only
join in and be a part of the most important event in the annual Skål
calendar, but also to help celebrate two milestones for the country and Skål
International Thailand. HM King Bhumibol’s 60th Anniversary of his reign and
the 50th Anniversary of the Skål movement in Thailand, will both take place
in 2006 with many Grand celebrations being planned.
“It is my pleasure and honour as International Councillor, during our Golden
Anniversary year, to welcome you to a memorable and unique World Congress.
We assure you it will be truly world class.”
What is Skål?
Skål is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world,
promoting global tourism and friendship. It is the largest and only
international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry.
Its members, the industry’s managers and executives, meet at local,
national, regional and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of
common interest.
The first Club was founded in 1932 in Paris by travel managers, following an
educational tour of Scandinavia. Skål International today has approximately
23,000 members in more than 525 Clubs throughout 87 nations. Skål
International is governed by an executive committee of seven members,
elected by delegates to an annual general assembly, held during the World
Congress, hosted by a different country each year.
Amari Hotels & Resorts names Wouter Hazenbroek as general manager at Amari Boulevard Hotel
Wouter Hazenbroek has been appointed general manager of
the Amari Boulevard Hotel, on Sukhumvit 5, Bangkok, and its 2 associate
Boutique City Lodges, as well as the operated Pasta & Noodles and La Gritta
restaurants on Sukhumvit Soi 9 and 19.
A Dutch national, Hazenbroek is fluent in Dutch, English, French and Spanish
and has over 15 years of international hotel experience. After studies in
France and the Hotel Management School in the Netherlands, he started his
career with Golden Tulip International, followed by Crowne Plaza from
Holiday Inn.
 Wouter
Hazenbroek
He worked in several management positions in diverse hotels, followed by the
appointment as a special projects manager for the corporate office of
Bilderberg Hotels & Restaurants (a Queens Moat Houses division with 25
properties).
After a stint on the island of Samui, Hazenbroek was most recently resident
manager at the Amari Airport Hotel, Bangkok.
With 309 rooms and suites, the Amari Boulevard Hotel is located in the very
heart of Bangkok, with a diverse clientele of business and leisure
travelers. The comfortable boutique city lodges are both located on
Sukhumvit Road. All 3 properties have the BTS Sky train on their doorstep
and an express way access at 200 meters.
Rachadaphisek hotels
heave a sigh of relief
Hotels on Bangkok’s famous Rachadaphisek Road have been
hit hard by the downturn in tourists during the recent political struggles.
Andrew Wood, general manager of the Chaophya Park Hotel said, “A number of
properties, particularly those with strong Singaporean links and marketing
bases, had seen occupancies drop by 30% in recent weeks due to the political
situation.”
Wood also announced, “Hotels around Siam Square have also suffered badly
with mass demonstrations leading to an exodus of guests in the area. They
will be particularly relieved that the demonstrations are all but over.”
He added, “The cooling of the political temperature will certainly help
tourism and the recovery of business to normal levels. Our expectation for
2006 was in the region of 85-90% year round occupancy.” Rachadaphisek has
become increasingly popular, with the opening of the MRT underground
network.
Wood added, “Prior to yesterday’s announcement we were re-evaluating and
re-visiting budgets, both on room sales and banquets, with a view to
revising forecast downwards. After Thaksin Shinawatra’s sudden announcement
last night, we are adopting a wait and see attitude, but we are very
optimistic of a quick return to normality.”
Wood went onto say, “We have a lot to do, 2006 is Thailand’s Grand Year,
with the PATA conference due to start in a few days; the Royal Barge
ceremonies and arrival of monarchs from across the globe; to the Skๅl World
Congress and ITCMA in October in Pattaya, we have a lot of marketing and
preparation work to catch up.
“I am confident that whatever has happened or is about to happen
politically, Thailand will be ready to welcome over 14 million visitors to
Thailand this year.”
Chiang Mai tourism promotion cards valid during royal floral expo
Thailand’s northern city of Chiang Mai will offer special
promotions for tourists to boost both provincial and regional tourism during
the three-month International Horticultural Exposition in honor of His
Majesty the King, or Royal Floral Ratchaphruek 2006 beginning in November.
According to Agriculture Department Deputy Director General Sookwat
Chandraparnik, the Nov 1, 2006 through Jan 31, 2007 floral fair is designed
to attract some two million visitors, or 20,000 visitors a day to the former
northern capital, one of Thailand’s leading tourist destinations.
Scheduled during the tourism high season in Chiang Mai, the tourist
promotion cards will be sold to allow tourists to visit a combination
package of five major high-interest tourism attractions, all for the price
of a 500 baht entry card under the province’s “Greater Lanna” tourism
strategy, he said.
“Lanna,” the historic name for the region which formerly comprised a number
of independent or loosely-related principalities sharing a common culture
and language, includes Chiang Mai’s neighboring provinces.
The five tourist attractions include the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006, the
Royally-initiated Doi Tung Development Project in Chiang Rai, the Hall of
Opium Golden Triangle Park in Chiang Rai, the Chiang Mai Night Safari and
the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden.
The cards will be available for purchase from July 1 through September 30
and will be valid during the three-month flora extravaganza. The cards will
help distribute income to nearby provinces from the concentration of
tourists at the floral fair.
Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Juthamas Siriwan said
the promotional cards will help increase the number of tourists and lead to
sustainable tourism.
According to official figures, Chiang Mai received almost four million
tourists in 2005, an increase of 2.5 percent from the year before, leading
the province to realize an income of Bt31 billion (about US$809 million).
Chiang Mai was listed among top five Asian cities ranked as travel
destinations by the US travel magazine ‘Conde’s Nast Traveller,’ she said.
(TNA)
Benchmarks for retail agents
For the first time, retail travel agents across Asia will
soon be equipped with industry benchmarks they can measure their operational
efficiency and company performance.
The initiative, mooted and sponsored by Cendant Travel Distribution Services
(TDS) and supported by TTG Asia, is in line with both companies’ objective
of helping raise the bar on best practices among retail agents in the
region.
Independent research firm, Marketshare, has been appointed to conduct the
survey, Travel Trade Benchmarks, among retail managers in order to determine
current industry standards in five areas of the retail travel business:
enquiry, reservation and booking; ticketing; travel and customer service;
invoice/payment; and business operations.
The research will cover at least 10 markets, including Hong Kong, China,
Taiwan, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and
Vietnam.
With it, agents are able to ascertain a gamut of benchmarks, including the
average percentage (of total costs) retailers spend on advertising and
promotions; the most common period for credit terms given to customers; the
yardsticks most commonly used by retail managers to rate their best travel
consultants; the customer services support that are now standard in the
industry; and the most important sources of business.
Cendant, TTG Asia and Marketshare had engaged a sampling of agents to
determine the yardsticks they needed before developing the survey.
Cendant Regional Marketing Director, George Harb, said: “Without industry
benchmarks, how is a retail travel agency to know if it is performing as
well, poorer or better than its counterparts in the industry and make
informed decisions going forward?
“This initiative is part of our investment in research designed to help
agents across Asia-Pacific find their optimum business model in a changing
travel climate.”
TTG Asia’s publisher, Michael Chow, said: “We are delighted to support and
collaborate with Cendant and Marketshare on this initiative, as we believe
it is of huge benefit to the retail travel agency community. Industry
benchmarks are needed, especially when the industry is changing so rapidly
with business becoming increasingly sophisticated.
“TTG Asia has served travel agents in the region for 30 years and is
committed to agents, who remain the primary source of booking for travel and
tourism.”
The survey will be emailed to retail agency subscribers of TTG Asia and
Cendant and there will also be a website managers can go to in order to
participate. TTG Asia’s print and online channels will be used to stimulate
reader response. In addition, there will be prizes such as free hotel nights
provided by Marketshare and Cendant to encourage response.
Response to the independent research will remain confidential and is not
linked back to any respondent to the survey. Also, it should take no longer
than 15 minutes for managers to complete the survey, a small time investment
on their part.
Marketshare Executive Director, Anthony Venus, said: “For proper benchmarks
to be established, agents must make the effort to respond to the survey. We
hope they will do so, as the results will help them in improving their
business performance further.”
Results of the survey are expected to be completed by mid May and the
highlights will be released in TTG Asia in five parts.
TTG Asia Editor, Raini Hamdi, said: “It will be interesting to find out what
the current industry levels are. TTG Asia is looking forward to spin off a
series of in-depth features on retail travel agency operation and
performance, based on the survey findings.
“We are confident the Travel Trade Benchmarks, and further focus by TTG Asia
on best practice examples in the retail travel agency sector, will provide a
breakthrough for retail agents in their constant search for optimum
efficiency and profitability.” (TTG Asia)
Vietnam gets first tourist police
The first tourist police force in Vietnam began operating
in Ho Chi Minh City two weeks ago, patrolling the most visited sites in the
country’s largest city.
Last year, the city welcomed two million foreign visitors and is targeting
2.3 million this year.
The 108-member tourist force, all of whom can speak at least another
language (typically English or French), was created to protect tourists from
thieves, hawkers and beggars. Most of the force will patrol in Districts 1
and 3, the most heavily visited of the city’s many districts, according to
local news reports.
The force, which received training in martial arts, provides visitors with
information about sites, directions and other important data that will help
visitors have a hassle-free trip. (TTG Asia)
Luxury resort opens in Hua Hin
AKA Hotel Resort & Spa, an all-pool villa property, is
the latest addition of luxury accommodation in Hua Hin, Thailand’s oldest
seaside resort town.
The resort was opened on April 1. It is in Hin Lek Fai Village near Hua Hin
town, a five-minute drive to Hua Hin Beach. It covers an area of
approximately four hectares and features 55 private pool villas. Each comes
with a 10m infinity pool, garden shower, outdoor sunken bathtub, spa
pavilion and spacious villa-dining corner.
Facilities include a swimming pool, three f&b outlets, a spa, conference
room for 50 people, business centre, library with Internet access and
childcare centre. (TTG Asia)
A family affair for THAI
The World Cargo Alliance (WCA) Family of Logistic
Networks has named Thai Airways International (THAI) official airline for
all its conferences to be held in Thailand.
The organization, which had been holding events in Bangkok for more than
three years, said it had been looking for other venues outside the country.
But the THAI deal would now allow it to continue using Thailand as a base
for most of its events.
WCA Family President, David Yokeum, said: “We are constantly striving to
make our meetings as cost-effective as possible and this partnership with
THAI will be most advantageous for a very large proportion of our
attendees.”
WCA Family organizes up to six conferences a year, with each event
attracting close to 600 delegates from more than 130 countries. The three-
to four-day affairs include sightseeing and golf options as well as gala
dinners. A 1,500-delegate trade show and conference will be added in the
first half of 2007.
The first event for which THAI will be the official airline is the 4th
Advanced Professional Logistics Network worldwide conference in September.
(TTG Asia)
THAI taps Laos
Thai Airways International (THAI) and Lao Aviation (OV)
have signed a memorandum of understanding in an attempt to boost business
and tourism between the neighbors.
The move is also designed to attract Lao expatriates living abroad. The
agreement initially involves a double-prefix cooperation on the
Bangkok-Vientiane route, before being developed into a full code-share
Cupertino on the Bangkok-Vientiane and Luang Prabang-Chiang Mai routes for
the winter schedule.
The airlines are also considering operating flights as domestic connections
rather than international connections to reduce airport taxes and fees. THAI
currently operates one daily flight between Bangkok and Vientiane on a
248-seat A300-600 aircraft, but plans to increase its frequency to two daily
flights. OV uses a 70-seat ATR for its daily Vientiane-Bangkok flight. (TTG
Asia)
Concierge service offers agent commissions
Asian agents will get between five to 10 percent in
commissions for booking West End theatre tickets, London and Paris city
breaks and sightseeing tours, and airport transfers through the Concierge
Desk service.
Agents who sign up as affiliates visit a customized and password-protected
Intranet site within www.concierge desk.co.uk, and can sell and print out
tickets for their own customers from there.
Director, Mat Costick, said: “An affiliate can quickly start making profits
from a computer and provide their customers convenient and easy access to a
vast range of travel services and tickets for popular London theatre
performances, tours and transport.” Affiliates can also sell tickets to
special London area attractions including the Tower of London, Madame
Tussaud’s and the London Eye. (TTG Asia)
Tiger ready to pounce on competitor’s routes
Orangestar Investment Holdings, parent company of
Singapore-based budget carriers Jetstar Asia and Valuair, is seeking fund
injections of S$36 million (US$22.4 million; Bt.890 million) after almost
exhausting the S$60 million available following their merger last July,
reported the local media.
The company, which expects to break even after 2010, wants to cut its fleet
size from eight to six aircraft in a bid to improve load factors that have
averaged 63 percent from September to March.
According to the reports, Orangestar cited a lack of viable routes as well
as an “aggressive competitive landscape with new entrants and capacity
growth” that affected its business.
In response to reports, Singapore’s other budget carrier Tiger Airways said
it was keen to take over Jetstar Asia and Valuair’s regional routes should
the opportunity arise.
Tiger Airways has just taken delivery of its fifth Airbus A320 aircraft last
week and will be taking delivery of its sixth new aircraft next week. Airbus
will deliver a further three aircraft by the year-end and three more next
year.
Tiger Airways currently flies to Thailand, Vietnam, Macau SAR, the
Philippines, Australia and Indonesia. Jetstar Asia operates to Thailand,
Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Taipei, and India, while Valuair
flies to Indonesia. (TTG Asia)
Phuket Islandia re-branded
Karon Phuket Hotel Co., jointly formed by Central Hotels
& Resorts group and an investor, has bought the Phuket Islandia Hotel in
Karon Beach for 1.05 billion baht (US$27.4 million).
The company will invest another 150 million baht to renovate and rename the
316-room property Central Karon Beach Resort, Phuket. The investment will
include an additional 19 new villas. (TTG Asia)
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