"World Tourism Day 2016" activities set in Thailand in late Sept

BANGKOK, August 17 (TNA) - The Ministry of Tourism and Sports has announced that Thailand is ready to organise activities to mark the "World Tourism Day 2016" in late September. Thai Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Pongpanu Svetarundra told journalists on August 16 that the activities were set to be held in several targeted areas in the country during September 26-29. Pongpanu said that his ministry will hold an official press conference on the activities with more details on September 6. According to an initial plan, the senior official revealed, the "World Tourism Day 2016" activities will also be organised in Khon Kaen Province in the Thai Northeast and Phuket Province in the Thai South. Meanwhile, a recent research conducted by Bangkok-based Dhurakij Pundit University (DPU) found that 82 per cent of Chinese travelers have positive attitudes toward tourist sites in Thailand, especially those in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya City in the Thai East and Chiang Mai Province in the North. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lertporn Parasakul at DPU's Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management, told reporters on Wednesday the recent research found that well-developed infrastructure and facilities, namely transport services, food and different tourist sites nationwide where the prices of services are reasonable, remain attractive among the majority of Chinese travelers, with cultural tourist sites found to be top of their choices of repeated visits. The senior academic, thus, proposed that the Thai public and private sectors work together to further develop the country's cultural tourist sites and Thai cultural products to earn the Kingdom more tourism-related revenues. According to the senior academic, the Thai cultural tourist sites and cultural products should then be publicised through reliable printed media to draw in more Chinese tourists to the country. (TNA)