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Tourism outfits hold
‘Malaysia Night’ dinner party
Tourism Malaysia, led by Ahmad Zawawi
Zakaria (3rd right), deputy director, Bangkok Office, in conjunction
with Atichart Sudhibutr, incentive sales of Sun Moon Tours & Travel (2nd
right), recently held their ‘Malaysia Night 2009’ dinner party at the
Garden Wing of Amari Orchid Resort & Tower, Pattaya. The smiling faces
are testimony to the group’s delight at the excellent service and
facilities!
Thai stimulus budget
to focus on 20 key markets
Sirima Eamtako,
TTG Asia
Following discussions with Thai hotels and tour operators, Tourism
Authority of Thailand (TAT) has drawn up a number of strategies
surrounding the latest stimulus budget of one billion baht, which was
approved by the Cabinet last week.
TAT governor, Phornsiri Manoharn, told TTG Daily News: “The results of
yesterday’s discussions with the Thai private sector will be tabled at
today’s TAT board meeting for consensus, following which we will be able
to announce our strategies.”
The budget will be spent on 20 key source markets earmarked by TAT as
still having potential to tap. These include markets in North Asia,
South-east Asia, Scandinavia, Europe, the UK, the US, Russia, India,
Australia, South Africa and the UAE.
Out of the newly approved stimulus tourism marketing budget, a total of
600 million baht (US$17 million) has been approved for international
marketing activities and the rest for domestic marketing. This is on top
of the 450 million baht budget approved earlier this year for domestic
marketing.
This translates to a total of 850 million baht that has been set aside
for domestic tourism marketing this year, further affirming the
government’s intention to boost domestic tourism spending.
The Thai government yesterday also approved a five-day holiday during
the Buddhist holidays of Asalaha Bucha and Buddhist Lent, lasting from
July 4 to 8, in a bid to stimulate domestic tourism. This comes on top
of the nearly one-week Thai New Year break, which this year will cover a
five-day period from April 11 to 15.
TAT board chairman, Weerasak Kowsurat, estimated the domestic market
would generate around 430 billion baht in domestic tourism revenue for
this year, while foreign tourism revenue would amount to around 505
billion baht.
Outbound agents
unaffected by SIA cuts
Karen Yue, TTG Asia
Singapore Airlines’ plans to cut capacity in the coming financial year
will have little impact on outbound travel agents in Singapore.
Last week’s announcement by SIA of its intention to cut capacity by 11 percent
throughout the Northern Summer period, which runs from March 29 to October 24,
and decommission 17 aircraft, mainly older Boeing 747s and 777s, comes in
response to weak advance bookings and expectations that the year would bring
even poorer demand for air travel.
Outbound travel agents in Singapore, however, say destinations affected by SIA’s
capacity cuts can still be accessed by other carriers and are confident that
tours to these destinations will not suffer.
A Centour Travel & Trading spokesperson said there will be minimal inconvenience
for its customers. The spokesperson also voiced understanding of the rationale
behind SIA’s reduced flight frequencies and said that “SIA’s move to cut
capacity is a necessary one for survival.”
Chan Brothers Travel spokesperson, Jane Chang, said: “We will source for
alternative flights, both direct and stopover, by other carriers for the
destinations that are affected by SIAs’ cut in flight services. We do not expect
the demand for travel to these destinations, such as USA and Japan, amongst
others to be affected as a result as there are always other flight options
available.”
SIA yesterday announced the frequency of flights between Singapore and various
Asian destinations would be cut. Services to Newark, Los Angeles, Manchester,
Rome, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane would also be affected.
Services to San Francisco (via Hong Kong) and London will be on a smaller
B777-300ER, which will result in a seat reduction of 97 per day.
The announcement follows last September’s move to cut more than 200 flights to
Australia, China, Europe and India by March this year.
In the third quarter of financial year 2008/09, SIA’s net profit dipped 42.7
percent or S$253 million (US$166 million) from the same period a year ago.
Passenger load factor also declined 2.8 percentage points to 78.5 percent.
SIA CEO, Chew Choon Seng, said: “Given the falls of over 20 percent that we have
seen recently in air cargo shipments, and the tradition of demand for air travel
following closely behind trends on the cargo side of the business, we have to
face the reality that 2009 is going to be a very difficult year. Singapore
Airlines does not have a domestic operation to soften the blow from the slump in
international air traffic, and we have to act decisively to address the
situation.”
Outbreak of Crown-of-
Thorns Starfish causing
death of coral
Owing to the high trade in aquatic animals for aquariums, the ecological system
is losing its balance, causing a rapid increase in the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish,
which have damaged a large area of coral reef in Phuket.
Over 500 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish were found and collected from coral reef in
the areas of Phuket’s Koh Hey and Koh Aew. According to an official survey, this
aquatic animal eats coral tissue, which causes the death of the coral.
Official statistics from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC) indicated
the maximum number of 10 Crown-of-Thorns Starfish within an area of 6 Rai, or
2.4 acres, was normal. But if it was higher than specified, that area was
considered to have a Crown-of-Thorns Starfish outbreak.
The reason for the high growth in Crown-of-Thorns Starfish is a great deal of
its natural enemies, namely Parrotfish, Triggerfish and Triton’s Trumpets, are
caught for aquarium trade. Chemical fertilizer for agricultural use is always
rinsed off into the sea, causing plankton, the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish’s food,
to grow faster and become fertile for the Starfish’s wellbeing and survival
ratio.
“There’re now too many Crown-of-Thorns Starfish in the ocean, which causes
damage to coral reefs in a large and spacious area,” said Niphon Phongsuwan, a
coral reef biologist at PMBC.
Although diving into the ocean to collect Crown-of-Thorns Starfish to get rid of
them is a way to reduce this animal and return balance to the ecological system,
a proper fishing technique or a conservation area is needed to preserve and
protect marine and coastal resources.
“We suggest scuba divers, tourists or fishermen not to catch aquatic animals
around coral reef areas, as certain kinds of fish can eat crown-of-thorns
starfish, and thus save the coral reef from one of its most notorious pests,”
said Wannakiat Thubthimsang, PMBC director.
To save the aquatic ecological system, all parties need to cooperate; otherwise,
it will prove hard for the ecology to revive itself, especially when
human-beings’ selfishness and lack of responsibilities continue unabated.
(TNA)
Organic Mayongchit
is in high demand
“Mayongchit”, a fruit from the same family as the sweet Marian plum, is the most
famous specialty of the central province of Nakhon Nayok, where a fruit festival
just kicked off on Thursday. What does the “Mayongchit” look like? Let’s find
out.
These egg-shaped Marian plums are called Mayongchit. They taste sweet and
tempered with a sour drop, like ripe mango.
 Organic
Mayongchit
In Nakhon Nayok, Mayongchit cultivation covers 5,000 rai of farmland, or 2,000
acres. The special breed here is the organic Toon-Glao, patented last year by
the Intellectual Property Department. Its produce is sold to the amount of some
300 tonnes a year.
A farm owner said agriculturists had used chemical fertilizer to grow
Mayongchit. The harvest went well in the beginning but their orchards later
yielded fewer fruits with a sour flavor and the soil became less and less
fertile.
The Nakhon Nayok Provincial Agricultural Extension Office then suggested
Mayongchit growers use organic fertilizer and enzyme ionic plasma, instead of
chemical fertilizer, and wood vinegar, a byproduct from charcoal production
which also helps fruit trees yield more produce, instead of pesticides.
Within a year, the organic Mayongchit trees did provide more fruit of larger
size and sweeter taste. It also helps cut the cost of tree care from almost 300
to 100 baht each.
“Organic fertilizer helps keep the freshness of the fruits longer. It can make
the fruits, let’s say, stay fresh for a month and 10 days, while those grown by
chemical fertilizer can last for a month only. They also taste sweeter with
organic fertilizer,” said Udom Changmai, a farm owner.
Due to the longer-than-usual cold spell last month, it’s expected Mayongchit
fruit could be harvested as many as three times this year.
It’s estimated the egg-shaped golden fruit could fetch at least 300 million
baht.
“In terms of income for Mayongchit growers, we consider it very good. The
production cost per kilo is Bt150-200 on average. Thus, there’ll be money
circulating in our province several million baht each harvest season,” said
Karin Lainarittisingh from Provincial Agricultural Extension Office.
If you have a chance to travel to Nakhon Nayok, the annual festival of the
chemical-free ‘Sweet Marian Plum’ is now being held in front of the provincial
seat’s Town Hall until the end of the month. (TNA)
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