TAT to present “Friends of Thailand Awards” at TTM+ 2013
BANGKOK : A total of 38 individuals, institutions, companies and organisations which have provided unstinting support to the Thai travel & tourism industry over the years will be presented with the “Friends of Thailand Awards 2013” at the Thailand Travel Mart 2013 Plus, the kingdom’s most important travel trade show, on 5 June 2013.
Initiated by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) in 1996, the Friends of Thailand Awards are conferred every two years to recognise and reward the efforts of the award-winners to maintain a positive image of Thailand and ensure a steady flow of visitor arrivals. This year’s awards will be particularly important because Thai tourism is generating record-breaking arrivals, a clear result of the successful contributions of the “Friends of Thailand.”
This year’s awards will be presented to 38 “friends” from 24 countries, as follows (see the full list of recipients at the bottom of this news release)
1. International Individuals; 7 recipients from 7 countries
2. International Organisation; 3 recipients
3. International Tour Operator; 14 recipients from 9 countries
4. International Media; 12 recipients from 12 countries
5. International Airlines; 2 recipients from 2 countries.
Commented TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni, “The awards presentation ceremony for the “Friends of Thailand,” is normally organised alongside the “Thailand Tourism Awards” towards the end of the year. But this year, for the first time, we are organising it alongside the Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2013 (TTM+) so that the award-winners can gain more recognition and also see the results of their efforts.”
The Friends of Thailand Awards was first held on 9 December 1996 at the Oriental Hotel Bangkok where 66 recipients from 18 countries were presented with the awards. Since then, it has been held in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2010. The ceremony for 2012 has been moved to this year’s TTM+. Through the 14 years (1996-2010), the TAT has conferred 510 awards on recipients from 59 countries.
The winners are nominated by 25 TAT’s overseas offices and finalised by a judging committee which this year was chaired by the TAT Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Asia and South Pacific). Committee Members included the Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas), Director of Thailand Conventional and Exhibition Bureau, President of Tourism Council of Thailand, Association of Thai Travel Agents, Thai Hotels Association, Thai Ecotourism and Adventure Travel Association, Thai Travel Agents Association, Association of Thai Tourism Marketing and Executives of Thai Airways International and Tourism Authority of Thailand. – TAT
