In the “World’s Best Tourist Country” category, Thailand ranked first once again, making this the eighth consecutive year that Thailand has won the Swedish Grand Travel Award.

In the “World’s Best International Airlines” category, Thai Airways International the kingdom’s national carrier, ranked second, after Singapore Airlines.

His Excellency Mr Thanarat Thanaputti, Ambassador of Thailand to Sweden, and Mrs Anchalee Kumwong, Assistant Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand office in Stockholm, jointly accepted the award on behalf of the Kingdom of Thailand. The prestigious award presentation ceremony was attended by 700 guests.

The Travel News Grand Travel Awards Committee comprises members of the publication’s editorial team and four representatives from the Swedish travel and tourism industry. The Award Committee submits its nominations for consideration by the members of the Swedish travel and tourism industry; each allocates a score to the countries proposed by the Award Committee. The awards are presented in several categories with scores allocated according to a scale of 1-6, with 1 being the lowest score and 6 is the highest.

Given the close partnership TAT Stockholm has forged with Swedish tour operators, airlines and media, this has contributed significantly to the steady growth in Swedish visitor arrivals to Thailand over the years. In 2009, Thailand welcomed 390,000 Swedish visitors who generated a total of 27.3 billion baht in tourism revenue and foreign exchange earnings for the Thai economy. While in 2008, total visitor arrivals from Sweden was 394,451 or a 4.25 per cent increase over the 2007 total of 378,387. This accounted for a contribution of 25 billion baht in tourism revenue and foreign exchange earnings in 2008.

Contact information
TAT Stockholm
Drottninggatan 33,
Ground Floor, 111 51 Stockholm,
Sweden
Tel: +46 (0)8 700 56 90
Fax: +46 (0)8 700 56 99
E-mail: info@tourismthailand.se
Web site: www.tourismthailand.se