Thailand will become the first country in the Asean region to host the world's biggest tourism summit.

The 2017 World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit will be held in Bangkok on April 26-27 next year.

The most influential travel and tourism event of the year will welcome hundreds of leaders from public organisations and private companies to discuss tourism issues and share opinions.

In Asia, China, South Korea and Japan have previously hosted the summit.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) will be a key sponsor of the event. It has asked for 100 million baht from the government to support the summit.

It will be a good opportunity to promote Thai tourism indirectly and directly among executives and high-profile operators.

Sugree Sithivanich, the TAT's deputy governor for marketing communications, said the key theme of the summit will be Asean tourism, aviation trends and the influence of low-cost airlines.

Around 600 visitors are expected to attend the summit, comprising 300 members of the WTTC and 300 executives from Asian companies and ministries.

The TAT plans to organise trips for guests to visit luxury tourism sites such as boutique hotels, especially in Bangkok.

David Scowsill, president and chief executive of WTTC, said travel and tourism was one of the most important generators of jobs and wealth in the world, contributing more than US$7.2 trillion to the world economy and supporting 284 million jobs -- one in 11 jobs on the planet.

Thailand has an extremely well-established travel and tourism economy. Despite challenges, the sector grew by a stunning 18.4% in 2015, contributing nearly 21% to the country's GDP ($81.6 billion or 2.8 trillion baht) and supporting 5.9 million jobs, which was 15.4% of total employment, according to the WTTC.

Source:
courtesy of BANGKOK POST

by Chadamas Chinmaneevong

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