TRAVEL & TOURISM
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Indian Federation of Travel Agents at home in Thailand

Air Berlin enters into cooperation with Bangkok Airways


Indian Federation of Travel Agents at home in Thailand

Andrew Wood (right) and the Green Imperative Panel in Chiang Mai.

Andrew Wood
The Travel Agents Federation of India held their annual convention from October 22-25 in Chiang Mai. In a landmark tie-up between the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) and Tourism Authority of Thailand, Pradip Lulla, President of TAFI and Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, Director of TAT New Delhi office on behalf of TAT, organized the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) Convention 2009.
Indian travel agents and tour operators who attended the convention were wowed with Chiang Mai. From Doi Suthep to the Panda family, the city met and surpassed the delegates’ expectations.
Following the convention, from October 25 - 28, delegates had the opportunity to participate in a three-night familiarization trip to 10 destinations in Thailand, and beyond. Destinations on the itinerary were Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phuket, Chiang Rai, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Chiang Mai City and its administrators did an excellent job of welcoming the Indian market to Chiang Mai. This should help boost the number of visitors to Chiang Mai and Northern Thailand from the Indian sub-continent.
The convention theme was “Breaking Barriers- Believe to Achieve”; the business sessions and speakers were aimed at preparing agents for a tough and challenging business cycle as agents prepared to live with zero airline commissions.
There were many interesting speakers and presentations, including our very own Thailand speaker, Andrew Wood, who spoke on the topic of “The Green Imperative - The Challenges before Travel and Tourism.” Wood is Skål International’s chairman of Responsible Tourism for Skål Intl Worldwide and is also the general manager of the Chaophya Park Hotel in Bangkok.
The TAFI convention was well attended with over 900 delegates finally making it to Chiang Mai. Thailand hoteliers and travel trade suppliers also attended the 2 day B2B sessions and took the numbers to over 1000 delegates.
Major sponsors for the convention were the Tourism Authority of Thailand and convention official carrier Thai Airways International. Congress Hotels were the Shangri-La and Le Meridien Chiang Mai.
Previous TAFI Conventions were held in Mauritius, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Kota Kinabalu. Each of these destinations has seen a steep increase in Indian tourist arrivals as a result of the conventions.
The city was so full that for the first time in many months, the airport was stretched with airlines reporting overbooking and all flights to Bangkok sold out.
It is good to see Chiang Mai so busy again and it is time for this rose of the North to make a recovery. Hopefully the Indian market will be in the forefront helping to revive the city’s fortunes.


Air Berlin enters into cooperation with Bangkok Airways

Codeshare flights to Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket available for booking

(2nd left to 2nd right) Prote Setsuwan, Bangkok Airways Vice President of Marketing; Peter Wiesner Bangkok Airways Senior Vice President in charge of Marketing; Stefan Magiera, Air Berlin General Manager for Thailand; and Rungnapa Leechaianan, Air Berlin Head of Marketing & Sales in Thailand, flanked by air stewardesses from both airlines announce the new codeshare agreement.

Air Berlin has now strengthened its presence in Thailand. In addition to the direct flights already available to Bangkok and Phuket, Air Berlin passengers can now book connecting flights from the Thai capital to Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Phuket. This has been made possible by a cooperation agreement with Bangkok Airways.
Also, during the 2009/10 winter, Air Berlin will be operating four non-stop services a week from Düsseldorf, three non-stop services a week from Berlin-Tegel and two non-stop services a week from Munich to Bangkok.
Feeder flights will be available from Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, Cologne, Münster-Osnabrück, Nuremberg, Vienna and Zurich.
Germany’s second largest airline is offering passengers the flights operated by Bangkok Airways under its own flight number. Customers benefit from a wider choice of flights and convenient connections.
The codeshare flights are now available for booking by calling Air Berlin’s Service Centre any time, tel. 01805-737 800 (Germany), tel. 0820-737 800 (Austria), tel. 0848-737 800 (Switzerland) or via travel agents.