Bangkok - Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand plan to boost tourism among the three countries under the Indonesia Malaysia Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).
Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, deputy secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said the five-year plan aimed to promote tourism among the countries. Throughout next year the three countries would launch tourism campaigns in IMT GT and related areas.
In Thailand, the campaigns include the IMT-GT Travel Fair to be held from Jan 11 to 13 in Songkhla, and IMT-GT International Trade fair from Jan 12 to 20 at Prince of Songkhla University.
He said Thailand aimed to improve tourism in 14 provinces of southern Thailand, which has been slow for three years due to unrest in the three southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.
Statistics from the Immigration Office showed that visitors via the Sadao border crossing in Songkhla dropped to 515,728, in the first nine months, down about 22% from the same period last year. However, visits via Phuket International Airport rose slightly to 926,980, or up 3.7% year-on-year.
Somkiat Anuras, the president of the IMT GT Joint Business Council for Thailand, said operators from three countries had co-operated on the plan with tour packages with attractive prices to be offered throughout the year.
Mr Somkiat noted that challenges in promoting tourism among the countries included a shortage of flights linking key destinations in the region, such as from Malaysia to Medan, Indonesia and to Hat Yai, Thailand.
To address the problem, Malaysia Airlines plans to add charter flights from Medan to Hat Yai, starting in mid-January. The flights will be marketed to wealthy residents in Sumatra, which has a population of about 50 million.
According to the council, 124,596 Indonesians visited Thailand via Suvarnabhumi in the first 11 months, up 8%, while 324,385 Malaysians visited, down 4.9 % from 2006.
The council expected the number of visitors from Malaysia and Indonesia to Thailand to increase by 30% next year and at least 10% annually in future years. He added the southern unrest would likely improve, which would increase visitor numbers via the Sadao border.
Phornsiri Manoharn, the Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, expects the number of foreign tourists to be close to 14.8 million targeted this year.
East Asian arrivals slowed by 1.8% to 4.33 million visitors to Nov 30. However, the agency is confident tourism will generate 547 billion baht in 2007.
Source: www.bangkokpost.com (28 Desember 2007)