PHUKET, January 8, 2007 – H.E. Dr. Suvit Yodmani, the Minister of Tourism and Sports has given the travel and tourism industry of South Thailand a detailed briefing of the policies, plans and projects for this year, and also taken note of some extensive feedback and suggestions for improvement.

After Bangkok and Central Thailand, the southern provinces of Phuket and the Andaman region are the most popular visitor spots. They were seriously affected in 2005 after the devastating tsunami of December 2004 but have rapidly recovered and made a fighting comeback in 2006, reporting virtually full occupancies through the Christmas\New Year period.

On 8 January 2007, the Minister, accompanied by Tourism Authority of Thailand governor-designate Mrs Phornsiri Manoharn and senior officials of the Ministry and TAT, presided over the meeting at the Prapitak Grand Ballroom, Metropole Hotel, Phuket.

The meeting was attended by representatives of local government offices, provincial governors, local administrative offices, tourism business associations, travel agents, and hoteliers in the southern region.

TAT has set a 2007 target of 14.8 million international visitor arrivals and 82 million domestic trips, respectively, generating estimated revenues of 547.5 billion baht and 377.8 billion baht.

Dr Suvit told the participants that Thailand's main focus this year would be on attracting high yield “quality” tourists while at the same time promoting sustainable tourism in line with the economic self-sufficiency principles of His Majesty the King.

TAT will be working on creating more awareness of travel and tourism as a necessary part of life and helping the local people better understand the long-term value and benefits of tourism in order to help them better preserve the region’s tourist assets.

It will also strive to promote tourism connecting the 14 South Thailand provinces in order to ensure better distribution of the benefits of tourism. The key target markets for 2007 are as follows:

Domestic Market

Target groups:	general tourists, youth, family, workers, high-income, retirees and incentives
Destinations:	marine tourism and historical sites
Major products:	adventure, golf and diving

International Market

Target groups:	general tourists, high-income visitors, families, golfers, divers, and honeymooners
Destinations:	Marine tourism, seafood, health and wellness
Major products:	Annual festivals, religious and cultural activities, sports, entertainment, and recreation such as mini-half marathon, underwater weddings, Chinese New Year, Songkran festival, Halal food festival, vegetarian festival, Laguna Triathlon, etc.

Thanks to its world famous beaches, the fabulous cruising and diving opportunities in the calm waters of the Andaman Sea, the convenient accessibility by both land and sea, South Thailand remains one of the world’s most popular holiday spots.

According to the Airports of Thailand PLC, total international and domestic passenger movements at Phuket international Airport during January-September 2006 totalled 3,375,488, a massive 62.55% increase over the same period in 2005. These included 1,175,083 international passengers (+112.14%) and 2,200,405 domestic passenger movements (+44.51%).