TTAA Vice President Kritchanat Meesamran announced the event dates at Limelight Avenue on Friday (Feb 3).
The main Thai International Travel Fair 2017 (TITF 2017) will be held at the at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok from Feb 15-19 (click here), with at least 314 tour and travel service providers taking part (click here.)
The Phuket version will be open from 10am to 8pm over the four days, Mr Kritchanat explained.
“The objective of the fair is to encourage Thai people to travel both in Thailand and abroad,” Mr Kritchanat said.
“At the fair we will have tourism information booths and tour packages available at special prices. We want people who are attending the fair get a great deal to encourage them to get out and travel.
“The tour companies joining the fair are all licensed and reliable,” he added.
Key travel players that will be taking part include the eight airlines under the Value Alliance consortium, hailing from the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, Singapore and Japan
Tour and travel packages made available at the fair will allow for crossover bookings across any of the eight airlines – Cebu Pacific, Jeju Air, Nok Air, NokScoot, Tigerair, Tigerair Australia, Vanilla Air and Scoot – through a bespoke booking system dubbed “New Distribution Capability” (NDC) made possible through the “Air Black Box” (ABB) computer network.
Katsuya Goto, President of low-cost airline Vanilla Air, which is wholly owned by All Nippon Airways, explained, “This system makes it easy for travellers to take flights, for example, from five destinations in Japan to destinations to other countries.”
New Zealander Campbell Wilson, the Founder and initial CEO of Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Scoot, and who is now Acting Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Singapore Airlines, said, “I am very excited that we have brought together eight airlines and I hope that our business will bring good service and good value to travellers.”
Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin also supported the initiative, saying, “The fair introduces travellers to many more options, and this will be good for Thai airlines.”
Sirikorn Boonyasiri, President of the TTAA Upper Southern Thailand branch, based in Phuket, said, “Tourism is an excellent way to distribute income to local businesses. This fair will create opportunities for local agents to meet with tourists, and especially Phuket residents.
“The fair will also help local tour agents to grow and develop their businesses,” Ms Sirikorn said.
“We want to say thank you to every one who is taking part. We invite everybody to enjoy the range of activities in the fair,” she added.
For more information about the fair call the TTAA Upper Southern Branch at 089-7290101 or visit the Thai Travel Agent Association (TTAA) website (click here.)