The first fam trip arrived in Phuket, with a number of representatives from the UK trade.
As the island of Phuket, Thailand reopened to international arrivals at the start of July, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) welcomed back its first fam trip - dubbed 'the Phuket Pioneers'.
Commenting on the success of the island's re-opening for international travel, Chiravadee Khunsub, director of TAT London, explained: "From 1st July to 27th July Phuket has welcomed 12,301 international arrivals of which just 28 have tested positive for Covid-19. TAT is really pleased with the initial arrival figures in the first month of Phuket Sandbox opening."
The fam trip was joined by Sheila Fleming from Destinology, Tony Carty from Destination2, Tracy Douglas from Premier Holidays, Toni Vallenduuk from Flight Cetnre, Allison Barnard from Travel Counsellors and Mark Mallinson from Gold Medal.
The Phuket Pioneers fam trip was designed to welcome back key trade partners to Thailand to experience the 'Sandbox' programme for Phuket's reintroduction of travel, and help boost sales confidence and knowledge of restrictions, regulations and requirements.
Khunsub added: "There is a lot of information and new procedures for the trade to learn and communicate to their customers as more destinations reopen, each with their own set of entry requirements, which is why we were determined for our trade partners, and media, to experience the Phuket Sandbox program as soon as possible so they can relay the details and their personal experience to their teams, customers and readers.
"The process to book international travel may seem daunting to customers too so our aim is to ease those concerns and help show them that the extra steps required do reap so much reward once in Thailand."
