Laurent Kuenzle
ASIAN Trails Thailand will be handling the clients of Finland’s leading tour operator Aurinkomatkat in South and Central Thailand from November 1, an opportunity that arose when DER Touristik, which bought Apollo (Kuoni Scandinavia), shifted the account to its subsidiary, Go Vacation Thailand.
“Losing the Apollo account to DER-owned DMC Go Vacation enabled us to look at options to work with other major tour operators in northern Europe and we are very happy that we could come to an agreement with such a reputable company as Aurinkomatkat,” said Laurent Kuenzle, Asian Trails Group’s CEO, in an email interview.
Aurinkomatkat, part of the Finnair Group, carried nearly 200,000 passengers to various destinations last year, with a total turnover of 172 million euros. Kuenzle would not reveal the size of the account, only saying Thailand is a “major destination” for Aurinkomatkat.
He added: “We believe that the Finnish market is very interesting for Thailand. Thailand sees a large number of repeat travellers from Finland and is by far their (Aurinkomatkat) number one destination in Asia. Thailand is excellent value for money and has quality beach properties available for every budget.”
Currently, the account is being handled by Asia World Thailand.
Janne Ohralahti, head of procurement category marketing, hotels & transportation of Finnair Plc, said: “We strongly believe that Asian Trails has not only the infrastructure in place in Thailand but also has demonstrated that on-the-ground service standards remain its highest priority in Thailand.
“Its extensive network of offices in key destinations in Thailand with employees who understand our needs were decisive factors to appoint Asian Trails Thailand as our partner.”
