Thailand among top hosts for global travellers

 
Bangkok – Thailand along with Indonesia, Mexico, Taiwan and India are the top five countries where locals believe hospitality to be in their DNA, according to the research that Booking.com conducted on 21,500 travellers from the 29 countries.

Thailand stood out from among the 29, with Thai poll respondents confident their country had the ‘host’ factor being recorded at 85 per cent.

Booking.com described Thailand as “the perfect destination for travellers seeking to experience a warm welcome and immerse themselves in the local culture”.

This follows on from an October-November 2018 survey in which the travel e-commerce company – one of the world’s largest – discovered that nearly a quarter of global travellers planned to stay in different types of accommodation in 2019 and that Thailand was well placed to capitalise on this trend.

 “In 2019, travellers are looking for new experiences and unique accommodation like a Thai traditional house, boat or tree house. Meanwhile, they’re looking to live like a local by staying at alternative accommodation types; such as villas, holiday homes and apartments”.

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Samui goes green to protect island ecosystem

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is working together with local stakeholders and tourists on Ko Samui to eliminate the use of single-use plastics and encourage all to reduce waste, reuse and recycle to help protect the island’s ecosystem.

Local Thai authorities on Ko Samui are proactively campaigning for recycling and waste management. It is urging residents and business operators to separate their waste for recycling to reduce the amount of garbage produce on the island.

Waste reduction thinking is quickly gaining traction amongst environmentally concerned Thai businesses and globetrotters on Ko Samui.



With some of the most stunning landscapes in Thailand, it is no wonder that visitors to Ko Samui continue to increase at an astonishing pace. With this influx comes a need to find a balance between the competitive, high-level service and environmental impact. Fortunately, as attention has turned to exploring ways to preserve Ko Samui’s delicate ecosystem, travellers can give back to the local Thai community by creating less waste and leaving a minimal holiday footprint.

Local stores and shops on the island are campaigning against single-use plastics. Hotels and resorts, as well as tourism-related businesses on Ko Samui, are also helping to lead the way on responsible waste management by following the three ‘R’ principle: reduction, reuse and recycle. Luxury resorts on Ko Samui were among the first to use the plant-based straw revolution that is sweeping across Thailand and make their tourism operations more sustainable.

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TAT continues King Bhumibols wisdom toward sustainable development

Bangkok – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) continues to follow the royal wisdom of the late King Bhumibol and bring His Majesty King Vajiralongkorn’s idea to disseminate and further implement royal projects with the development of major tourism routes in five regions.

Following the royal wisdom on sustainable development will encourage local people to use local experience to generate more income an develop their communities, thus this will build tourism sustainability in long term.

TAT also invites Thai people to join its online activity to vote for favourable tourism routes. Winners will receive the prize to join tourism routes, which follow the royal wisdom.

Tung Prong Thong mangrove field located at Paknam Prasae, Rayong

Under this tourism project, five pilot tourism routes in five regions are designed to follow the royal wisdom and link with royal projects in each province. Backed by the story related to the royal projects, the five tourism destinations and tourism routes will be more interesting and there are many types of tourism destinations from OTOP villages, arts and craft centres, to trade centres.

Ban Rai Gong Khing Community in Chiang Mai

Meanwhile, TAT has launched various marketing activities to promote the “tourism route development to follow the royal wisdom” project via online channel under the “Travel to Follow the Royal Wisdom” activity. It opened for general people to vote for their favourite tourism routes from five short videos via www.tourismthailand.org/kingwisdom during 6-31 August, 2018. Winners will be announced on 7 September 2018, and they will receive the tour packages to follow the royal wisdom.

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Thailand ranks top in Travel Weekly UK Best Destinations in The World survey

Bangkok – Travel Weekly UK has unveiled the results of its ‘Best Destinations in The World’ survey and Thailand has made it into the top 10 of four important categories.

The Grand Palace, Bangkok

Travel Weekly polled a cross-section of experienced agents, including independents, online travel agents and others to compile a comprehensive shortlist of 20 destinations in each category. Readers were then allowed to vote for their top destinations in each sector of the survey with over 500 agents participating over the course of four weeks.

Best for Spa & Wellness (1st Place)

The survey asked if there was any better place to pamper yourself? The answer to that was of course no. Thailand is an ascending global leader in the booming spa and wellness sector. Holistic wellness, Ayurveda, and acupressure is all part of Thailand’s current spa culture. While classic Thai massage continues to hold sway, there are heaps of spa packages and wellness retreats to make them affordable for most budgets.

See more at TAT Newsroom

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Tourism Authority of Thailand upgrades mobile apps for tourists

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) recently upgraded its Amazing Thailand and Tourism Thailand mobile apps to ensure accurate and timely travel information at the fingertips of local and international tourists.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor said, “New innovations have been incorporated into the Amazing Thailand and Tourism Thailand, two of our four existing mobile apps, which give travellers instant facts and data on general tourist information or more niche services. This is part of our drive to improve the visitor experience whether they’re here for sightseeing, shopping, dining or health. We aim to constantly adapt to the way modern travellers seek services online and meet their expectations.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand upgrades mobile apps for tourists

The English-language Amazing Thailand mobile app is aimed at helping international tourists find data on attractions, tours, dining and accommodation. Meanwhile, the Tourism Thailand mobile app offers a similar range of services to local travellers with Thai language listings about events and attractions.

Both the Amazing Thailand and Tourism Thailand mobile apps are now boasting new features including maps, GPS and 360 VR images of destinations to enable users to easily find attractions and gain preliminary impressions of places of interest. Information can also be shared via e-mail and other social media platforms and e-mail.

In addition, the Amazing Thailand mobile app also enable users to ‘speak Thai’ via an English-to-Thai translation dictionary, which can be voiced operated allowing tourists to find words they need to communicate with Thai people, shop owners and food sellers.

TAT also has two other apps for specific groups of travellers. The Muslim Friendly Destination mobile app lists Muslim friendly venues and includes features; such as, a Qibla compass and prayer times. Meanwhile, the Women’s Journey Thailand keeps female travellers up to date with all the latest offers and promotions in dining, sport, health and beauty.

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