Vdo: Thai Tourism Operators Were Requested By European Tour Agencies To Have More Social Conscience

item---4-- on VDO at http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/prev...hp?news_id=1174

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Thai tourism operators were requested by European tour agencies to have more social conscience and prepare for new code of ethics.

One of Europe’s largest tour agencies, bringing many Scandinavian tourists to Phuket & Thailand, recently told Andaman News during a fam trip for Swedish travel agents here, that there was increasing pressure from their customers and clients to ask Thai tourism hotel and tourist attraction operators to have more social conscience and prepare for a new code of ethics in contracts. Last week ttrweekly.com reported that European travel agents are now taking the subject seriously enough to base their sales recommendations on how a product’s social responsibility record is judged. Thai Hotels Association president, Prakit Chinamourpong, said TUI Nordic’s top executives met him at Thailand Travel Mart and asked for assurances that Thailand’s tourism industry would demonstrate it was active in dealing with social problems. This includes illegal labour and child abuse. He said the tour agent asked the Thai counterparts to talk with hotels and travel agents as well as the government to eliminate these issues as they discouraged Swedish tourists from visiting Thailand, even when there are several positive factors.

Andaman News NBT TV (VHF dial) at 8.30am & perhaps repeats on Phuket Cable TV channel 1 at 3.30pm, 7pm 1.30am & 6.30am, broadcast to Phang Nga, Krabi & Phuket provinces & maybe Mazz Radio FM108 at 7pm in Phuket, Wednesday 17 June 2009 & http://thainews.prd.go.th/newsenglish/

& www.YouTube.com/AndamanNews