Tourism in Thailand Has a Great Future

Andrew J Wood, National President of Skål International Thailand, is convinced that 2013 will be a bumper year for Thailand's tourism industry, and believes the country will this year welcome over 24 million visitor arrivals, surpassing the 22 million visitors who visited the country in 2012.

“Tourism in Thailand has a great future. The hospitality industry has recovered completely from a chain of natural disasters and political disruptions and is now preparing for the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community,” said Andrew J Wood, National President of Skål International Thailand, speaking at a Skål meeting in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Hua Hin.

He also aired his concern that the huge numbers of visitors demand an improvement of the infrastructure. “Electric, fast trains, even possibly bullet trains as well as quality highways linking our regional partner countries are needed to accommodate the growth in the tourist industry,” Mr. Wood said. “AEC 2015 offers tremendous challenges for tourism in Thailand. Thailand must be cognisant however of its neighbours. They are aggressive and very competent. If Thailand fails to improve its infrastructure and to prepare for an open inter-connected free market in time, it will miss the opportunities created by AEC 2015.”

“AEC 2015 allows free movement of people and goods in its territory. Tourism always has operations that cross national borders. AEC 2015 will be very beneficial in smoothing the work of amongst others, tour operators, airlines and hotel chains. AEC 2015 offers plenty of opportunities including the free movement of the workforce, but Thailand needs to be ready to maximise the business opportunities created by the advent of the ASEAN Economic Community,” Mr. Wood added. “It is more than 25 years since Thailand launched the “Visit Thailand Year”, which marked the decision to develop the tourist industry. In 1986 400,000 visitors came to Thailand, a number that tripled after the launch of the “Visit Thailand Year”. We now need to take the AEC blueprint and integrate this into a national tourism plan for Thailand, with a focus on sustainability.”

Skål facilitates the hospitality industry by offering networking opportunities and regular meetings and congresses.

“Social media is now the key buzzword, but nothing builds better relationships than old fashioned face-to-face meetings with your peers. At Skål, networking is why we exist and thus we are even more relevant today than ever before,” said Mr. Wood.

Skål members comprise among others professionals from travel agents, NTO's, hotels, tour operators, golf courses, restaurants, spas, MICE and eCommerce companies. With 18,000 members worldwide and 450 clubs in 85 countries Skål is the largest organization of its kind. Established in 1932, the organization promotes the ethic of doing business among friends. Thailand has six Skål clubs; Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Koh Samui and Phuket.