Govt urged to protect local tour operators under ACE

In a roundtable discussion entitled "Thai Tourism Industry and AEC" held by Krungthep Turakij newspaper last week, the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) had a brainstorming session on what would be the best strategy to deal with AEC.

"Even though we still have three years left before Asean is integrated, the government has no plans to deal with this big change," Kongkrit Hiranyakit, TCT's president for policy and planning, said.

He urged the government to establish a special intelligence unit to provide the private sector with in-depth information about investment and business, as well as set up special trade regulations for each member country.

The key official bodies that could work on this include the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Board of Investment, Commerce Ministry as well as TAT.

TCT pointed out that the government should kick off investment negotiations with other Asean members in order to pave the way for the private sector to take their business outside Thailand. Japan, South Korea and Germany were good examples of governments that helped their businesses expand into other countries, it noted.

Kongkrit said Thailand was already a leader in the tourism sector in the region and should benefit even more once the AEC is implemented.

The council also asked operators to build a business network with foreign operators to reduce their operating costs and ensure transparency.

"But many foreign investors are waiting to come to Thailand and use it as an expansion base in the region, which could have a negative impact on local SMEs," he warned.

He also urged the government to prepare strategies in order to protect local operators, particularly SMEs, by crafting investment clusters initially in the region and then holding road shows in other countries to draw investment. This should help protect local business from making controversial transactions.

"The government should think more about the flow of investment within the region, and not just focus on tourists. I expect the Thai tourism sector to gain a lot of revenue from new investments," Kongkrit said.

The government needs to also set up special measures to protect the local workforce once the tourism sector gets a boost with the AEC agreement. Workers are expected to flock to Thailand to fill new positions created by the expanding tourism sector. Thai workers will also face severe competition in terms of language skills, which is considered one of their key weaknesses.

Once the Asean single market is implemented, it will cover a population of 480 million, with up to 74 million arrivals and an income of up to US$5.6 billion (Bt170 billion). Last year, 35 per cent of the total visitors to Thailand came from a third region and ranked number one for international markets.

According to TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni, intra-region travel is growing significantly since the West is still facing economic difficulties. To cope with that trend, TAT is preparing strategies and plans to boost tourist arrivals within the region and also work with other organisations.

One of the plans is to promote a land link with the "last frontier" countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.

The plan is expected to draw tourists from a third country, who base themselves in Thailand before checking out other destinations in the region. It will also work with airlines to help boost tourism.

Furthermore, the authorities will work with educational institutions to groom tourist guides who are fluent in languages such as Russian, Korean and Vietnamese. TAT also plans to highlight the unique Thai way of living by promoting heritage in cities such as Ayutthaya and the Elephant Village in Surin.

Singapore has built itself as a paradise for shoppers, while Malaysia attracts as many as 20 million tourists a year.

Thailand attracted more than 17 million visitors last year, with more than 50 per cent of them returning. The new government aims to have 30 million tourists per year by 2015.

"TAT will also promote Thailand and Asean as travel destinations. Thailand should really gain once AEC is implemented," Suraphon said.