344 buyers from 51 countries to attend Thailand Travel Mart Plus in June

The Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong sub region will be held 5-7 June 2013 at the Exhibition Centre Hall, IMPACT, Muang Thong Thani.

TTM+ is expected to be attended by 344 buyers from 51 countries including India, United Kingdom, Russia and USA. Buyers have also been invited from emerging markets such as Argentina, Belarus, Estonia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Myanmar and Ukraine, and there are 156 first-time buyers, some from new participant countries such as Beralus, Lao PDR, Poland and Taiwan.

TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said: “This year marks the 12th anniversary of the TTM+. Visitor arrivals have nearly doubled in this period and the industry itself has undergone a phenomenal change. This year, our priority is to develop niche-market tourism as we move into a new era of marketing and development. Hence, the entire structure of the TTM+ has been geared towards meeting this strategy, and connecting the right buyer to the right seller.”

The four key niche-market segments to be highlighted this year will be ecotourism, golf, health and wellness, and weddings and honeymoons.

As of 12 March 2013, a total of 318 seller organisations had registered including 232 hotels and resorts, 23 travel agents and tour operators, 17 companies from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), 14 entertainment/theme park/cultural products, eight wedding and honeymoon companies, seven health and wellness businesses, five associations, four ecotourism bodies, four other travel services, two golf operators, and two transportation companies.

In an attempt to ensure quality buyers, the hosted buyers are being asked to pay a registration fee of US$ 300 (9,600 baht) per delegate while non-hosted buyers (who pay for their own transportation and accommodation) are being charged US$ 200 (6,400 baht) per delegate.

In addition to the business sessions, the TAT has selected niche-market products to be showcased during the pre and post-tours for the buyers and media.

These include: Supreme Arts: Arts of the Kingdom (New Collections) and Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles; Thai Wellness: Thai Herbal Lozenges, the First Thai tradition of Medical School; Culinary: Thai cooking by the River (Amita Thai Cooking Class); Trading Street: Chinatown, Sampheng Wholesale Market, Little India, Flower Market; New Fun in Bangkok: The Flow House Bangkok, and Thai Wake Park and Martial Arts: Thai Kick Boxing.

The post-tours include a biking tour to Suphanburi in the central region, the beach resorts of Pattaya, Rayong and Chanthaburi in the eastern region, as well as those of Chumphon, Ko Tao and Ko Samui in the southern region.

The north and north eastern regions are covered in the form of three connecting routes to the neighbouring countries of the Greater Mekong Subregion, thus: Thailand and Beyond Myanmar: Bangkok-Chiang Mai-Lampang-Yangon, Thailand and Beyond Cambodia: Bangkok-Buri Ram-Chanthaburi-Siem Reap, Thailand and Beyond Lao PDR: Udon Thani–Vientiane–Vang Vieng–Luang Prabang.

In addition, TAT in coordination with PATA will also create a buyer’s forum under the topics of Creative Tourism, Dynamic Packaging, and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).