Mekong fairs

Two tourism exhibitions aimed at boosting travel in the Mekong sub-region have been scheduled for June 16-19 at Bangkok's Impact Exhibition Centre.

The first mart is Thailand Travel Mart Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Sub-region, which will be organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and managed by TTG Asia Media Company. The event aims to pair domestic and overseas buyers with local travel suppliers in Thailand and the Mekong River countries - Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province.

Vendors would sell tourism products and services worth Bt1.5 billion at the show, a 50-per-cent increase from last year, said Juthamas Siriwan, TAT's governor. TAT also expects the Mekong countries to attract 500,000 international tourists this year.

The second mart is the International Travel Show (ITS), also organised by TTG Asia Media Company for a second year. ITS will be geared to Thais and expatriates based in Bangkok looking for holidays and tour packages outside the country. Between two and three million Thais travelled abroad last year.

The two marts are expected to bring 420 buyers from Thailand and the Mekong region and another 600 buyers from overseas. The first two days (June 16-17) will be open for buyers and sellers to conduct business. The last two days will be open to the public.

Suchat Sritama, The Nation 2 June 2005 www.nationmultimedia.com