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Luzi Matzig in TravelAsia
TravelAsia, April 5, 1996
By Faridah Hamid
This year's International Travel
Show (ITS) has been called off.
Tourism Authority of Thailand's director of market
development, Vunsadej Thavarnsuk, confirmed the cancellation,
citing TAT's policy to promote domestic tourism this year as reason.
ITS has been held in July since 1993 at the Queen
Sirikit National Convention Centre.
Problems relating to its financing and organisation
also resulted in its scrapping this year.
TAT claims that NCC Management & Development,
the convention centre management, backed out at the last minute
of its proposal to organise this year's ITS, fearing the undertaking
would be a money-losing proposition.
An official at NCC, however, maintained it had no
further interest other than being the show manager, although it
was asked by the TAT to handle the entire organisation.
As show manager, NCC charges the TAT a service fee,
in addition to the space rental fee.
TAT's budget for ITS '95 reached 17 million baht,
out of which up to 10 million baht went to NCC. Without subsidies
from the TAT, which has been charging ITS participants lower than
market rates, NCC was not confident that it could run the show
successfully.
Luzi Matzig, general manager of Diethelm Travel,
says the reasonable cost of setting a booth at ITS of 20,000 baht
has ensured good participation.
However he says the show is not meeting its original
objective, which is to promote inbound tourism and earn more foreign
exchange for the country.
The show, he adds, has become dominated by outbound
tour operators and national tourist boards promoting overseas
destinations to Thai consumers.
The flight of money is against national interest.
Inbound tour operators will not be disappointed at
missing the show this year, Matzig reckons.
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