TOURISM Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) renewed efforts to promote the kingdom as an eco and adventure destination at Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+) this year drew a mixed response from buyers.
Chris Ball, CEO of AdventureHoney.com, an Australia-based OTA specialising in adventure travel in Thailand, said: “Having not attended TTM before, I had limited expectations. It has certainly been a positive experience.
“There’s some wonderful adventure tour and activity operators in Thailand, but finding the best ones takes time. An event like this speeds that process up, which is great, not only for my business, but for the industry in general,” he said, adding he was now in a stronger position to sell Thai adventure products.
However, Brad Moss, director of sales and marketing at the Los Angeles-based ROW Adventures, said while he was pleased with support from the TAT, the fam trip he was taken on did not profile enough adventure activities and he had not met enough suppliers to convince him he could sell Thailand to American activity-focused tourists.
“(TTM+) was okay at best,” he remarked. “There were not a lot of suppliers in my realm of adventure. I think three or four booths was all.
“I think the TAT is 90 per cent focused on beach resorts, shopping and mass tourism. I think the country’s entire infrastructure is set up around those themes… I had extensive conversations about this with Thailand Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association. They agree, and feel my concerns too.”
Ecotourism and activity holidays were one of the four elements promoted under the Thailand Travel Mart’s Customize your Experience concept, the others being golf, weddings and honeymoons, and health and wellness.
Although promoting Thailand as an eco and adventure tourism destination was not a new strategy, bringing over so many international buyers to this year’s event marked a refocusing of efforts, a TAT spokesman said.
TAT hosted 21 international ecotourism buyers at the event, an increase of almost 15 per cent from the previous year, making it the second largest category of hosted buyers after weddings and honeymoons.
