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Skål Bangkok meets in the Boulevard
Andrew Wood
Skål International Bangkok held its monthly luncheon meeting at
the Amari Boulevard Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 5 on July 14.
 (L
to R) Bruce Hancock, Andrew Wood and Greg Duffell.
Featured speakers at the luncheon were Greg Duffell, president and CEO
of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Bruce Hancock,
operations director of Asian Oasis.
Duffell’s presentation focused on tourism arrival numbers for 2009 and
2010 for Thailand and Southeast Asia and Hancock’s presentation detailed
his company’s efforts in the field of community-based tourism.
ASEAN foreign ministers condemn bombings in Jakarta
 Foreign
ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) on Saturday issued a statement condemning last Friday’s bombings
in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta in which many people were killed
and wounded.
“The ASEAN Foreign Ministers strongly condemn the bombings in Jakarta on
17 July 2009, which caused loss of innocent lives and injuries,” said
the statement.
The statement said the ministers supported the Indonesian government’s
effort to “bring the perpetrators of these heinous acts to justice.”
It said: “ASEAN stands united with the government and people of
Indonesia and remains steadfast in our continued fight against terrorism
in all its forms and manifestations.” (TNA)
Tiger resumes Krabi service
Tiger Airways will resume its Singapore-Krabi service with four flights per week
from October 25.
The airline suspended the service in March last year, after having operated the
route for two years, citing increases in operating costs.
The trade in both Krabi and Singapore lamented the suspension as a huge blow to
the destination, and had been pleading with the airline to resume the service.
Tiger Airways managing director Rosalynn Tay said the airline heeded the trade’s
pleas in its decision to resume the service.
Tourism Authority of Thailand Singapore office director Porntip Makornpan said
she was confident the trade in Krabi would launch promotions to attract
passengers on the route.
According to the airline, the booking and ticketing system was activated on July
14 with seats for the peak season expected to sell out fast.
PATA outlook negative for 2009
PATA has revised its forecasts downwards for this year’s arrivals to the
Asia-Pacific region, citing the A/H1N1 influenza as another serious threat to
the travel and tourism industry on top of the present challenges.
PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre director John Koldowski said this year was
“abnormal” and that the new forecasts were revised downwards not just by
crunching numbers, but also by taking into account several issues including
present challenges and the air capacity situation.
In the latest PATA forecast July 13, this year’s arrivals to the Americas and
North-east Asia are expected to drop by 3.4 percent, South Asia by 7.8 percent,
South-east Asia by 4.2 percent, and the Pacific by 1.6 percent.
This is in contrast to its initial projection that this year’s arrivals to the
region were expected to enjoy some modest growth between 0.9 percent (for the
Pacific) to 6.8 percent (for South-east Asia).
However, PATA is optimistic some modest growth will return to the region next
year with South-east Asia projected to see the highest increase at 6.8 percent,
followed by South Asia at 11.2 percent and the Americas at 10.1 percent, which
were “back to last year’s level,” said Koldowski. (TTG Asia)
THAI promotions undercut agents
Sirima Eamtako,
TTG Asia
Agents have blasted Thai Airways International’s (THAI) latest promotion, saying
the effort posed a direct competitive threat and would harm their bottom line.
According to agents who called the Daily, their declining ticketing business has
been made worse by airlines - not just THAI - flooding the market with
promotions. THAI’s new initiative comes on top of five existing promotions
launched between January and June.
Agents also complained that passengers booking directly through airlines’
websites were getting even better deals.
AA Travel Service managing director Paul Phornprathipdeva said his agency had to
turn away some clients when they refused to pay servicing fees - they pointed
that booking directly through the airline’s web booking engine would not entail
a booking charge.
THAI’s latest promotion - ‘Fly THAI Get More’ - offers a roundtrip net price,
starting from 2,810 baht (US$82.30) for domestic routes, 5,645 baht for
Bangkok-Singapore, 12,930 baht for Bangkok-Shanghai and 26,790 baht for
Bangkok-London and Bangkok-Frankfurt. The offer is available for trips made
before September 30.
The airline’s existing promotions - ‘Cooling Summer 2009’ and ‘Happy All The Way
in Thailand’ - will expire September 30. Other promotions - ‘Happy All The Way
to Asia’ and ‘Oslo Big Surprise’ - will end this month.
Thai government accused
of A/H1N1 overreaction
Sirima Eamtako,
TTG Asia
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) has attacked Thai health
authorities for creating unnecessary panic over the A/H1N1 pandemic in the
country.
ATTA president Surapol Sritrakul said, “On what grounds did the government base
its claim that tens of thousands have been infected so far? They are
overreacting to the situation.”
Over the weekend, the government estimated tens of thousands of Thais may have
been infected with the virus. The first cases were reported in April.
At press time, health minister Wittaya Kaewparadai said about 2.4 million Thais
suffering from chronic ailments were in danger of being infected with the virus.
However, Surapol said based on talks with travel agencies and tour operators, it
remained unclear if A/H1N1 was the major cause for declining arrivals. He blamed
falling bookings on the recession and the political situation.
Surapol added, “But we are not standing still. Members have been told to
accurately inform overseas partners of the spreading of the virus in Thailand,
and what preventive measures are in place to control the spread, such as
disinfection sprays at department stores, cinemas and hotels, as well as
campaigns on personal hygiene.”
Between January and June, ATTA members handled 796,352 foreign tourists, a fall
of 415,999 arrivals or 34.31 percent compared to the same period last year.
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