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 News & EventsThailand Guides
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TAT to Open Its First Full-Time Office in Ho Chi Minh CityTourism Authority of Thailand
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is to open its first its full-time office in Vietnam to tap the rapidly growing outbound potential of that ASEAN country. Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn made the announcement to coincide with the International Travel Expo HCMC 2007 between 5-7 October 2007, Vietnam’s annual travel trade show. To be located in the important Vietnamese commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City, the TAT office will be temporarily located at the Royal Thai Consulate on Tran Quoc Thao Street, with Mr. Pichai Raktasinha as director. The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism approved the license on 25 April 2007. Mrs Phornsiri said, “Vietnam is a very important partner country for Thailand in the context of cultural, social, political and economic relations, both bilaterally as well as under the aegis of regional sub-groupings like the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).” Vietnamese arrivals to Thailand in 2006 totalled 251,838, an increase of 28.85%, the fourth highest growth in the ASEAN region. Vietnamese visitors had an average length of stay 4.61 days and an average daily expenditure per person of 3,417 baht. In January – June 2007, there was a small decline in arrivals, but the numbers have begun to show a good growth trend after the 2nd quarter, indicating that the drop was only a temporary phenomena. Vietnamese don’t need visas to come to Thailand, and there is a significant growth in arrivals to attend the many trade exhibitions, especially since Vietnam has now become a member of the WTO. Mrs Phornsiri noted that aviation capacity is plentiful and growing. As of September 2007, there were 67 direct flights between Bangkok and major Vietnamese cities served by Thai Airways International, Vietnam Airlines, PB Air, Thai Air Asia, Bangkok Airways, and Lufthansa. Nok Air is to operate two daily flights between Bangkok and Hanoi, from 1 November. At the same time, she said, Thais are also visiting Vietnam in good numbers. Vietnam is now the second most popular destination in the Greater Mekong Subregion for Thai visitors, after Lao PDR. In January- September 2007, Thai tourist arrivals to Vietnam totalled 120,867, an increase of 137.3% over the same period of 2006.1 “Thailand and Vietnam have enjoyed a long history of good relations in the travel and tourism field”, Mrs Phornsiri said. The first memorandum of understanding between TAT and the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism was signed on 16 March 1994 in Hanoi to promote tourism cooperation, update immigration regulations, and upgrade human resources. A more detailed Implementation Plan for Tourism Cooperation was signed in November 2000 in Hanoi which was designed to increase the number of flights between two countries, promote overland tourism, and Mekong River tourism. Some joint marketing programmes have also been conducted with Lao PDR to take advantage of the rapidly growing Asian Highway network and highlight the three countries’ UNESCO World Heritage Sites by combining them into one tour programme. One particularly unique project has been the establishment of a Thai-Vietnamese friendship village at Nachok village, Nongyat district, Nakhon Phanom. Vietnam's revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh lived there for a brief period before independence. Contact details of the new office: |
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