Phuket to hold road shows

Written by changthai11 on Sunday, September 21st, 2008

ACHADTAYA CHUENNIRAN

PHUKET : Tourism interests in Phuket will organise a tourism road show in China, Malaysia, and Singapore to restore confidence among foreign tourists, shaken by the political crisis.

The task of rebuilding tourist confidence should begin with neighbouring countries, said Phuket Tourist Association president Somboon Jirayut.

He said the tourism road show would be held in Malaysia and Singapore from Oct 21 to 24, and in China by November.

The government’s imposition of an emergency decree and the blockade of Phuket international airport by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) last month resulted in a sharp decrease in hotel bookings and room cancellations and also dealt a blow to other tourism-related businesses, he said.

The association received financial support of one million baht from a provincial administration organisation to hold the event, called “Short-Haul Route Road Show” in three countries, and work with local hotels and leisure businesses to provide tourists with special incentives.

Association deputy chairman Purit Maswongsa said China, Malaysia and Singapore were the countries of first choice because they ran direct flights to Phuket. Last year, as many as 300,000 inbound tourists came from these sources.

Anoma Wongyai, assistant director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) southern division 4, said ambassadors from countries which issued travel warnings to their citizens would be invited on an official inspection tour from Oct 2 to 4 of the Andaman coastal provinces.