The newly re-elected president of the Thai Hotels Association – Eastern Region said she will focus on better promoting Pattaya, working with universities to train more hotel professionals and environmental projects during the 2012-2014 term.
Bundarik Kusolvitya, who ran unopposed in the March 21 ballot at the Dusit Thani Hotel, said her goal was to better market Pattaya both at home and abroad as a center for “world-class seminars and meetings.”
(L to R) Chatchawan Supachayanont, Bundarik Kusolvitya, and Thanet Supornsahatrangsi announce plans for the year ahead.
Promotions and road shows were cited by Bundarik and new vice presidents Chatchawan Supachayanont and Thanet Supornsahatrangsi as reasons they should be elected for the next two years, saying events such as the Pattaya Grand Sale and the THA’s participation in travel fairs have been successful, despite the political and natural crises that had hampered tourism from 2010-2012.
To reach her goals, however, the region needs more and better trained hotel workers, Bundarik said. Thus, “The association will encourage educational institutions to produce more personnel for the hotel sector,” she said. “But businesses must modify and develop their standards of personnel training as we prepare to enter the ASEAN Community in 2015.”
Bundarik’s third goal is to expand environmental efforts by member hotels. By organizing environmental activities, it will enhance Pattaya’s image and improve the quality of tourist accommodations, she said.
Over the next term, the newly elected hotel association executives said that most of Pattaya’s tourism growth likely will come from the eastern European and Indian markets.
“The Indian market is interesting and our travel there to market Pattaya received a good response,” Thanes said, noting that hotel bookings in January were up as much 80 percent from the same month in 2011.
Chatchawan said that while the European economy has stabilized, the region’s tourists still are not looking to Pattaya as they had. The British market, however, may be able to make up for some of that if hotels and tourist businesses create attractive promotions.
