Scandinavians to return on back of strong currencies

       More Scandinavian tourists will return to Thailand in the coming high season as their currencies are getting stronger,says TUI Nordic, a tour operator in Scandinavia.
       To accommodate an increasing number of tourists, the company will lease a Boeing 767 from Thomson Airways, its sister company in Britain, bringing its feet to four, said Christian Clemens, CEO of TUI Nordic.
       It also expects to bring a total of 120,000 tourists from Scandinavia to Phuket and Krabi, up from 110,000 planned earlier this year. The new projection will be on par with the number in 2007 when the economy was good.
       The extra Boeing 767 will operate between Dec 15 and March 5, with 34 flights per week to Phuket and Krabi.
       "Despite the global recession, we still see a great interest in Thailand this coming winter and we have by now sold more than 60% of tour packages," Mr Clemens said.
       TUI Nordic's partner hotels in Thai-land are helping by offering attractive prices 10% lower than last year's rates.
       Mr Clemens said both the Swedish and Norwegian currencies had appreciated against the baht and this would help raise tourists' purchasing power when travelling to Thailand.
       August and September are typically difficult months for TUI Nordic, which has to offer heavy discounts. With the discount offers, the volume of tourists will stay at about 15,000 during the twomonth period this year."We also have put a lot of effort into convincing cus-tomers who used to travel to the Mediterranean during the (Scandinavian)summertime to choose Phuket. We are dependent on the close co-operation with local authorities to successfully establish Phuket as a year-round destination," he said.
       TUI Nordic predicts that the global economy will recover next year. However,it will monitor conditions before deciding whether it should raise its prices. However, it believes that when the time is right, service fees and room rates will return to normal levels.
       In 2011, the parent company TUI Travel will deploy 26 more Boeing 787 aircraft and some will fly from the UK directly to Thailand. As a result, the group will bring 50% more tourists from the EU. The aircraft will be delivered in 2011.
       Normally a Scandinavian tourist stays about two weeks and spends 8,000 to 10,000 baht daily for accommodation and other needs. TUI Nordic consists of three businesses - a scheduled airline,a charter airline and the number-two tour operator in Scandinavia, mainly selling overseas holidays.