Intra-Asia Pacific travel on trend in 2015

BANGKOK, May 23 (TNA) - Thai Deputy Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Thanitta Savetsila Maneechote said on Tuesday that intra-Asia Pacific travels would likely outpace those of Europe in the near future, caused by impacts from the ongoing debt crisis in the European Union or EU and from the grouping together between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 10-member bloc's six dialogue partners by 2015, when the ASEAN Single Community is scheduled to be established. Speaking at a seminar hosted by Dusit Thani College in Bangkok on frameworks under ASEAN Mutual Recognition Arrangement on tourism professionals, Thanitta acknowledged it is speculated that demand for intra-Asia Pacific travels will be on the uptrend in the coming years, as tourists’ preference is turning to short-haul travelling within the region for a cheaper option so that they can try visiting different locations in a year. Thanitta cautioned that the trend of the intra-Asia Pacific travel will be, somewhat, on upswing, as ASEAN is working on a plan to open the region for international tourists, through its unified visa system, in the same way as the European's move. As for Thailand, Thanitta revealed that her ministry has stepped up the Tourism Professional Certification Network (TPCN) in an effort to ensure excellent hospitality for larger flows of tourists within ASEAN, and that the network has been launched in her ministry's all regional bases to help improve skills of tourism professionals in Thailand. According to 2011’s tourism figures released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports this week, there were some 19.2 million of international tourist arrivals in Thailand last year, earning the Kingdom in its tourism-related revenues of more than 770 billion baht. Despite experiencing major tourism woes, including impacts from Thailand's flooding crisis late last year, the senior official noted that the number of international tourist arrivals in the country reportedly increased by 21 per cent year-on-year, 60-70 per cent of last year’s visitors were repeated tourists who were aware of flooding facts, and that frequent updates on Thailand's tourism situation have been conducted by the Thai government and international bodies, including the World Tourism Organisation and the ASEAN Secretariat. (TNA)