Thailand Too Reliant on Mass Tourism

Dateline: Bangkok, 10 March 2011     Thailand needs to move beyond its ‘Amazing’ brand, embrace quality tourism and build iconic mega-attractions instead of more hotel rooms that only end up being discounted, says David Keen, CEO of Keen, a global brand strategy and communications agency with its headquarters in Bangkok On March 2, the [...]

Thailand Needs to Get Its Brand Image Right

BANGKOK, 22 February 2011 – Does Thailand’s brand, “Amazing Thailand” still cut it in the international marketplace? David Keen, CEO of KEEN, a Bangkok based global branding agency, told travel industry leaders that “Amazing Thailand,” announced in 1997, needs to change. Addressing the PATA Thailand Chapter AGM on 16 February in Bangkok, he cited dynamic [...]

Trip to Former Leper Colony Wins Tourism Writing Award

BANGKOK, 14 July 2010 – A boat trip to an island that was once the world’s largest leper colony has won top prize for travel writing in the Southeast Asia Awards. The story, which won the Editors’ Choice Award for June, is hosted on www.SoutheastAsia.org, the official B2C portal of the ASEAN Tourism Association. The [...]

Thailand Needs Your Support. Not Price Cutting

BANGKOK, 2 June 2010 — The Thailand PATA Chapter regrets to observe that Royal Orchid Holidays (ROH), a division of THAI Airways International, has come up with a self-defeating tourism recovery strategy for Thailand – price reductions of 50%. In addition, ROH expects hotels to sweeten the pot further with free dinners, cash vouchers and [...]

New Website Makes it Easy to Plan Your Next Southeast Asia Trip

Bangkok, 22 April 2010 – Planning and booking travel to Southeast Asia has never been easier. The ASEAN Tourism Association’s new Southeast Asia: feel the warmth destination campaign features a dynamic interactive website at www.SoutheastAsia.org, which allows visitors to research, plan, book, and comment upon their holidays in Southeast Asia. SoutheastAsia.org’s rich content is supplemented [...]

Share Your Southeast Asia Adventures and Win

Bangkok, 22 April 2010 – Never has there been a better time to share your favorite snapshots and stories from your travels in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Tourism Association’s new www.SoutheastAsia.org travel portal is running a writing and photography contest with US$15,000 in prize money up for grabs. Entries close on 15 June. The inaugural [...]

New Strategic Alliance Creates Powerful Online Platform for Small Tourism Operators in ASEAN

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, January 28, 2010 – A new strategic alliance announced this week will give small and medium-sized tourism operators in ASEAN a powerful online presence, even if they do not have a website. The initiative is the result of strategic collaboration between Creative Advances Technology (CAT) and the ASEAN Tourism Association [...]

ASEAN Launches New Tourism Campaign

“Southeast Asia: Feel the Warmth” and SoutheastAsia.org to target medium and long haul markets BRUNEI  DARUSSALAM, 25 January 2010 – The ten ASEAN countries today launched a new tourism campaign built around the slogan, “Southeast Asia: Feel the Warmth.” A dynamic, new, interactive website, SoutheastAsia.org is being created as the primary marketing tool. The new [...]

New Strategic Plan for ASEAN Tourism Under Way

BANGKOK, 2 December 2009 – A new strategic plan for tourism in the ASEAN countries of Southeast Asia will be prepared to help the region achieve an integrated ASEAN Community by 2015. The plan will recommend a wide range of policies and reforms in ASEAN’s tourism marketing, branding, product development, human resource development, quality standards, investment strategies, [...]