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Royal Cliff Beach Resort wins “Award of Outstanding Performance” from TAT
The Royal Cliff Beach Resort won the prestigious “Award of Outstanding
Performance” at the 7th Thailand Tourism Awards 2008. The distinction
was given by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in the category:
Tourist Accommodation in the Eastern Region.
 Minister
of Tourism and Sports, H.E. Weerasak Kowsurat (right) presents the
Tourism Authority of Thailand’s “Award of Outstanding Performance” to
the Royal Cliff Beach Resort Executive Director Vathanai Vathanakul at
the 7th Thailand Tourism Awards 2008 held in Bangkok on 28 September.
Selected in the main category, Resort Hotel Tourist Accommodation, the
Royal Cliff topped all hotels in the sub-category of those with more
than 80 rooms.
The TAT “Award of Outstanding Performance” confers honor upon the
recipient for its assurance of quality in the tourism industry. The
criteria include a five star standard of service and facilities, plus,
environmental conservation awareness related to issues of global warming
shown by active participation as well as a sustainable economic plan.
Good governance is required as a fundamental working context. The
practice of social responsibility is essential to the criteria as well.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, H.E. Weerasak Kowsurat presented the
resort’s Executive Director, Vathanai Vathanakul, with the award during
a festive ceremony. The resort had been presented with the TAT Award of
Excellence in 2004 and 2006 and was the recipient of the “Best Resort
Accommodation Award” (Eastern Region) in 2000 and 2002.
Since beginning operations in 1973, the Royal Cliff Beach Resort has won
a total of 76 awards and emblems of recognition from reputed national
and international organisations. They include, over the last 8 years (in
addition to the 4 from TAT): 4 from the Travel Trade Gazette (Asia), 4
from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and 16 Awards
of Excellence from Wine Spectator Magazine in New York
Bangkok and Chiang Mai
ranked best cities of Asia
Bangkok and Chiang Mai have been rated as the Best Cities of Asia 2008
from American readers of Condé Nast Traveler, a US leading travel and
lifestyle magazine. The readers voted Bangkok as Best City of Asia with
an overall score of 82.8%, followed by Chiang Mai (81.2%).
The award was conferred at the Readers Choice Awards 2008 Ceremony and
Gala Dinner held at the New York Public Library, New York City, USA on
October 15, 2008. It was accepted on behalf of the entire Thai travel
and tourism industry by Weerasak Kowsurat, Minister of Tourism and
Sports.
Readers of Condé Nast Traveler magazine, which has an audience of 3.1
million and readership of 32,633, were polled on the basis of first-hand
experience of their world-wide holidays.
For 20 years, it has conducted an annual readers’ choice survey to rank
best cities, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and resorts wordwide and
honor them with the World’s Best award.
Criterion scores for the best cities, which represent the percentage of
respondents rating a candidate excellent were averaged to determine the
final score-atmosphere/ambience, culture/sites, friendliness, lodging,
restaurants, and shopping.
Other high-level rankings attained by Thai products services in Readers’
Choice Awards 2008 included Phuket and Samui, which were respectively
ranked 3rd and 6th on the list of Top 10 Islands in Asia. Thai Airways
International was ranked 7th on the list of Top 25 airlines. Also ranked
were the top 100 asia hotels, fourteen of which were in Thailand.
(eTN)
Luang Prabang plans
airport upgrade
The Luang Prabang Airport will be undergoing a runway expansion in the middle of
next year to cope with anticipated growing demand.
Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos, attracts around 340,000 visitor
arrivals last year – and the number is growing. However, the destination is
reported to be facing room shortage and low air seat capacity.
Laotian authorities, Asian Development Bank and Japan International Co-operation
will be investing around US$50 million to US$60 million to upgrade the passenger
terminal and expand the 1,850m runway length to 2,100m for handling larger
aircraft such as Boeing737.
Luang Prabang Provincial Tourism Department deputy-director general, Khamtanh
Somphanvilay, said low-cost carriers from Malaysia and Singapore had expressed
their interests to introduce flights to Luang Prabang once the expansion was
completed in 2011. (TTG)
Internet is Thai travellers’ preferred resource
According to an inaugural poll commissioned by British Airways (Thailand),
Online Travel Trends 2008, 79 per cent of Thai travellers plan international
trips and check ticket prices online and 63 per cent of the browsers will also
purchase their tickets online.
When travelling for business purposes, 45 per cent of Thai executives booked air
tickets via the company’s assigned travel agency but about 39 per cent said they
booked international air travel themselves online. The remaining 16 per cent
have their business air ticket bookings made via their secretaries.
Speed and convenience topped the list of advantages of online bookings.
Meanwhile, 60 per cent of respondents reported they had tried airline’s online
check-in tool while 24 per cent still preferred traditional check-in at the
airport counter.
The Online Travel Trends 2008 was conducted by Dusit Poll in Bangkok’s prime
business districts around Silom, Sathorn and Sukhumvit.
Responses were gathered through an on-street Thai language interview amongst 500
respondents. All respondents were Thai nationals with a minimum income of 50,000
baht per month. The sample comprised 52 per cent female respondents and 48 per
cent male respondents between 25 and 40 years of age. (TTG)
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