PM asks TAT for a game plan 
PM asks TAT for a game plan
Thailand’s Prime Minister, Abisit
Vejjajiva, told travel agents, yesterday, the Tourism Authority of
Thailand has two weeks to present a revised marketing and public
relations strategy.
He assured travel agents the government
would not neglect the industry and was prepared to ease rules to allow
more companies to apply for low-interest loans.
Speaking to
1,000 representatives from the travel industry, gathered at the Dusit
Thani Hotel, the Prime Minister said he had ordered the Tourism
Authority of Thailand to present a revised marketing and public
relations strategy within two weeks to stimulate recovery in the fourth
quarter.
No.1 InsideYesterday’s event was organised by the
Federation of Thai Travel Associations, which has challenged the
government to reveal a concrete plan to revive tourism and assist
travel related companies.
“In the circumstances, we may not be
able to spend billions on advertising projects,” Mr Abisit told the
audience. “But we should be looking at specific channels such as local
media in specific overseas markets that can help us target growth.
“We
also need to co-operate with overseas governments, or overseas airline
alliances, to sign MoUs to jointly improve tourist arrivals.”
Mr
Abisit said the country should be able to “attract at least 11 million
arrivals, based on the report from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports,
which showed 5.6 million arrivals in the first five months of this
year.”
He believes the second half of the year will perform
better, a view reflected by private sector associations that claim the
last quarter could see substantial gains.
The TAT had earlier estimated 2009 could generate 14 million arrivals.
“The
government will not overlook the travel industry’s problem and will
follow up all policies and measures that have been set out with
reference to tourism,” the Prime Minister promised.
He also
acknowledged that rules for applying for a SME loan may need to be
eased dramatically to allow more companies to benefit.
“We have
discussed with the Minister of Finance, Kobsak Sapavasu, and financial
institutions to relax rules for tourism related companies, especially
for those that have been running into difficulties since the airports
closed last year.”
He reported that around 3,000 companies
applied for a special Bt5 million loan. So far, financial institutions
has accepted 1,700 applications and approved loans for 1,000
applications, while 300 companies have already taken the loan.
“We
cannot count on a miracle that the economy will just suddenly revive,
but the government will support tour operators in every way, to make
sure they are competitive and ready to act when the global economy
revives.”
Executives attending the event were members of Fetta
which represents eight travel associations: Association of Thai Travel
Agents; Thai Hotels Association; Thai Travel Agents Association;
Association of Domestic Travel; Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel
Association; Thai Transport Operators Association; Thai-Japan Tourist
Association; and Thai Chinese Tourism Alliance.
Source: http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2009/08/pm-asks-tat-for-a-game-plan/
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