GLOBAL TOURISM OPERATORS TO FLOCK TO CHINA FAIR

       Tourism operators from around the world are set to join the annual PATA Travel Mart in Hangzhou from September 22-25, with Thailand intending to win back Chinese visitors.
       Altogether 591 sellers from 38 countries and 305 buyers from 51 countries including Thailand have confirmed their attendance at the tourism mart to be organised by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
       Chairwoman Phornsiri Manoharn yesterday said China was ranked as the fifth-strongest source market globally by the World Tourism Organisation, as measured by tourism-related expenditures. That means there is no doubt operators will be in the right country at the right time this year.
       More than 4.2 million Chinese travelled to Southeast Asian countries last year. Singapore gained the most, with nearly 1 million visitors. However, the figure was down due to the global economic crisis and type-A (H1N1) influenza.
       CEO Greg Duffell said Chinese arrivals to the Kingdom during the first half dropped 38 per cent year on year, due to political issues.
       However, tourism here and in other countries would recover soon and operators hoped to reclaim customers from China and also other markets, he said.
       Some of the new participants this year include tourism ministers from Tonga and Vanuatu.
       Suparerk Thongsuk, deputy managing director of Fair House Villa and Spa Samui, said it would be first time for the hotel to join the event and that he expected to draw interest from China and other short-haul markets.
       Luzi Matzig, CEO of Bangkok-based Asia Trails, said it was an opportunity to discover a new and most interesting destination, which most operators do not know about yet, and also to network with existing clients and secure new ones.
       "I expect our company to meet with many first-time participants at the Pata Mart for further deals," he said.
       Alison Partridge, president of Canada's Proof Positive Solutions, said attendees were decision-makers from every corner of the world and that they were there to do business.
       Akbar Shareef, CEO of Pakistan's Rakaposhi Tours, said the company had prescheduled appointments that some of the other travel exhibitions do not have even though they are bigger in size and in number, so it was a chance for local sellers to exhibit in greater numbers.
       Bob Malcolm, managing director of Australia's Travel Masters, said he wanted new relationships with product providers to be established that would hopefully be mutually beneficial over time.