TOURISM IN KO SAMUI GETS BIG BOOST

The tourism industry of Ko Samui, one of Thailand’s most popular beach destinations, is rallying behind plans to revitalise and rejuvenate the island’s attractions and infrastructure in order to sustain its long-term growth.

At a workshop between July 27-29, 2001, four senior ministers, high-ranking government officials and private sector executives identified a broad range of policy measures and projects designed to ensure that Samui remains a truly world- class destination.

Chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Tourism Promotion and Development Committee Pongpol Adireksarn, the Samui workshop was attended by Minister of the Interior Purachai Piamsomboon, Minister of the Public Health Sudarat Keyurapan, Minister to Prime Minister’s Office and Chairman of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Somsak Thepsutin and TAT Governor Pradech Phayakvichien.

It marked the first such high-level ministerial workshop ever held to plan the future development of the island’s primary economic source of income. Other participants included local administration authorities, government agencies and private stakeholders.

TAT Governor Pradech commented, “By 2005, we plan to limit the number of accommodation establishments to 11,000 rooms while visitor arrivals will be limited to about 950,000 per year. we plan to focus on attracting quality visitors and getting them to stay longer and spend more.

“It is crucial that related public and private agencies work closely to promote the quality of local products, create a wider range of tourism activities as well as extend tourism seasons to cover the whole year,” Mr. Pradech added.
The re-development of Samui will act as a pilot project for sustainable tourism development of other Thai islands and beach resorts which are becoming increasingly popular.

Four policies have been initiated:

1) Positioning Samui as the main marine tourism centre in the Gulf of Thailand;

2) Developing and maintaining tourist destinations in harmony with local cultures and traditions;

3) Improving the environment by encouraging related agencies to pay strong attention to such issues; and

4) Boosting the quality of products and services by focussing on standards, visitor convenience and safety.

Local administrators including City Planning and Forestry Departments and municipal administration agencies have agreed to work closely to oversee tourism-related business establishments.

A new city planning and zoning will be implemented to control the construction of new buildings and restrict entertainment complexes away from residential areas and natural attractions. A number of infrastructure facilities such as public services and health-care will be improved.

A special loan will be allocated to ferry operators to upgrade the standard of their piers and ferries while a number of roads will be built to help decongest traffic around popular beaches. More police stations will be set up in major tourist destinations. A marina and local cultural centre is also being planned.
Government agencies like the Community Development and Labour Skills Development Departments will help develop and market community products by establishing more retail outlets with support from the Surat Thani Provincial Administration Agency.

Other short-term strategies outlined include:

1) Improving ‘leadership capacity’ of local community leaders and officials to expedite development plans;

2) Controlling land usage to create a clear and beautiful ambiance;

3) Providing sufficient and quality tourism-related facilities;

4) Promoting the tourism industry to a suitable extent;

5) Improving waste and garbage collection especially in public places; and

6) Educating youth, public, business owners as well as tourists.

To attract first-time and repeat visitors, new tourism niche products will be developed such as health and spa facilities, diving, drive-only and fly-drive packages linking Thailand with Malaysia and Singapore.

Other new market segments include long- stay retirees, honeymooners, overseas wedding couples and MICE delegates.

Governor Pradech said, “While maintaining the focus on quality services and products and the environment, we will enlist the support of private stakeholders to gradually build a new brand, ‘Luxury Beach Resort’, for Samui which will be used to promote it in major markets.”