FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

International travel fair set for February

International travel fair set for February

THE THAI Travel Agents Associa-tion (TTAA) and the Association of Domestic Travel (ADT) plan to hold the 18th Thai International Travel Fair (TITF) next month, aimed at helping the outbound-tourism business grow by 7 per cent and domestic tourism to incre

Suparerk Soorangura, president of the TTAA, said the event would take place at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok from February 17-21. 
The TITF is expected to attract more than 500,000 visitors from Thailand and overseas and generate income of Bt700 million for the tourism industry. 
He said three similar events were planned to run at the same time in major provinces upcountry. Chiang Mai will host the event in the North, Udon Thani in the Northeast and Phuket in the South.
Suparerk said travel operators from abroad would join the TITF, mostly from Myanmar, Brunei, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, 
 mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Italy and Africa.
“This year, 65 operators from overseas will join the event and have a chance to talk with 1,200 local operators,” he said.
Suparerk said 6.8 million Thais travelled outside the country last year. Half of them visited neighbouring countries, particularly Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Myanmar. 
The association expects the outbound business to grow by 7 per cent this year thanks to the official implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC). 
In 2015, average spending by outbound tourists was Bt5,000 per person per day.
Major firms such as Amadeus, Thaivivat Insurance, and Krungthai Card plan to offer special promotions and deals for those who purchase tours or packages at the event. Purchasers have a chance to win two passenger cars as well as other prizes worth a total of Bt1 million. Yutthachai Soonthronrat tanavate, president of the ADT, believes that the number of local tourists will increase by more than 10 per cent and average spending by 25 per cent this year. The significant increasing would be due to the government’s tourism stimulus packages announced this week.
“With the government tourism stimulus package, I hope that many people will take more vacations and travel more instead of buying jewellery or mobile phones,” said Yutthachai said. 
He said domestic tourism grew slightly last year, but average spending per head dropped by 10 per cent because many tourists shifted to cheap hotels and shortened their trips. 
 
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