Tourism Indochina: First Skal Club in Cambodia: Skal Intl Siem Reap Opened

Tourism Indochina: First Skal Club in Cambodia: Skal Intl Siem Reap Opened

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2008-11-27):

Skål International warmly welcomed the new Skål Club – Skål International Siem Reap, Cambodia into the Skål fraternity at the inaugural function of the Club on 22nd November 2008. This represents not only a new Club for Skål International but also a new Skål country for Skål International.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by 50 prominent tourism leaders, Vice President of Skål International, Tony Boyle from Australia, Skål Asia Area President, Earl Wieman and his wife Jenny from Taiwan and past member of Skål International Sunshine Coast, Australia, Ms Cherylynne Bullen who was employed as a relief accommodation Manager in Siem Reap during 2007 along with the very hard working Secretary of the Club, Ms. Annie Rivera.

20 Skål members were inducted on the night and were presented with their Skål membership certificates and Skål pins and there are a further 7 membership applications that are currently being processed.

Skål International Siem Reap Vice President, Mr. Khem Sophal said that the members of Skal International Siem Reap are very excited about the benefits of being part of Skal International and be able to network with tourism professionals throughout the world and have the opportunity to do business among friends in over 90 countries.

Skål, founded as an international association in 1934, is the largest organization of travel and tourism professionals in the world, embracing all sectors of the travel and tourism industry with 20,000 members in almost 500 locations in 91 countries.

Skål International is aiming at quality and supports sustainable development and responsible tourism. Skål International is an Affiliate member of the World Tourism Organization Business Council, one of whose missions is to promote ethics in business, particularly the Global Code of Ethics issued by the UN World Tourism Organization, which covers peace, the environment, security, pollution, human contacts and respect for local cultures. Skål International is also a member of the task force on the prevention of exploitation of children in tourism and is one of the sponsors of the Code of Conduct drawn up as a result of this task force.

Source FTN

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Tourism Indochina: Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia discuss triangle growth

Tourism Indochina: Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia discuss triangle growth

(Tourism Indochina: Date : 2008-12-01):

The 5th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle Summit took place in Vientiane, Laos on November 26 with the aim of boosting trilateral cooperation in trade and finance in the region covering ten poverty-stricken provinces of three neighboring countries.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Lao President Buoasone Bouphavanh stressed the need for cooperation among the three countries to be boosted and for policies and mechanisms to be completed in a favorable manner to attract a greater flow of investment into the region.

Boosting the triangle region's development would play a critical role in bridging the development gaps between the three countries, he said. Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia must work together to develop special economic zones across their borders as well as to expand cooperation in the tourism, training, trade and finance sectors.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expressed his satisfaction at the fine progress in the relationship and comprehensive cooperation between the three nations. He praised the meeting, which he said, offers a good opportunity for the three to review their cooperation in terms of co-developing the triangle region in order to establish orientations and incentives for their investors and those from other countries.

At the meeting, the Prime ministers of the three countries agreed to further develop their cooperation in transportation, mining, farm produce production and processing, energy, communications and tourism.

The leaders reached a consensus on the triangle development master plan until 2020, which seeks to combine each nation's development plan with cooperation among Mekong sub-region countries, particularly in the above-mentioned areas and in environmental protection.

They spoke highly of the memorandum of understanding on the creation of incentive policies and mechanisms to attract more investment to the triangle region. They expressed their satisfaction at the cooperation between CLV plus Japan and vowed to continue working alongside Japan to implement joint projects that have been agreed upon.

The three PMs approved a joint statement of the 5 th CLV summit, signed the Vientiane statement and a memorandum of understanding on the formation of incentive policies for the region.

The 4 th CLV Development Triangle Summit was held in Vietnam's central highland city of Da Lat in December 2006.

Source Isria

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Tourism Indochina: Flight between Cambodia Thailand by Bangkok Airway

Tourism Indochina: Flight between Cambodia Thailand by Bangkok Airway

Bangkok Airways Co., Ltd. is a regional airline based in Chatuchak District, Bangkok, Thailand.It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos, Maldives, Burma, India and Singapore. Its main base is Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok.

The airline was established in 1968 as Sahakol Air operating air-taxi services under contract from Overseas International Construction Company (OICC) an American construction company, United States Operations Mission (USOM) and a number of other organisations engaged in oil and natural-gas exploration in the Gulf of Thailand. It began scheduled services in 1986, becoming Thailand's first privately-owned domestic airline. It re-branded to become Bangkok Airways in 1989. The airline is owned by Dr Prasert Prasarttong-Osoth (92.31%), Sahakol Estate (4.3%), Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (1.2%) and other shareholders (2.19%). It has 1,903 employees and also wholly owns subsidiary airline Siem Reap Airways.

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2008-12-02):

Bangkok Airways commenced twice daily flights between Hua Hin and Samui during December 1st – 2nd in order to connect passengers going to Singapore or Hong Kong via Samui.

Flights leave Hua Hin at 14.00 hrs and 17.00 hrs for passengers can connect with flights to Singapore leaving at 16.35 hrs and 20.30 hrs. For Hong Kong-bound passengers, flights leave at 22.00 hrs and 11.35 hrs on the next day. From Singapore, there’ll be two flights: 20.10 hrs and 01.30 hrs. From Hong Kong, flights leave at 17.05 hrs and 04.00 hrs. Afterwards, passengers can connect to Hua Hin at 15.30 hrs or 18.30 hrs. A complimentary transfer service will leave four hours prior to each flight departure from Bangkok Airways’ Head Office (99 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road). Additionally, the airline also operates between U-tapao-Siem Reap/ U-tapao-Maldives/ U-tapao-Guilin/ U-tapao-Samui/ and U-tapao-Phuket. We provide check-in and transfer services for all passengers leaving for Singapore and Hong Kong (via Samui) by departing from Hua Hin Airport.

The immigration process will be done at Hua Hin Airport. Please be at our head office at least 04:00 hours before departing time.

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Tourism Indochina: Cambodia, UNESCO post sign of world heritage at Angkor Wat temple

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Its stated purpose is to contribute to peace and security by promoting international collaboration through education, science, and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and the human rights along with fundamental freedoms proclaimed in the UN Charter. It is the heir of the League of Nations' International Commission on Intellectual Cooperation.

UNESCO has 193 Member States and seven Associate Members. Most of the field offices are "cluster" offices covering three or more countries; there are also national and regional offices. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information. Projects sponsored by UNESCO include literacy, technical, and teacher-training programmes; international science programmes; the promotion of independent media and freedom of the press; regional and cultural history projects; the promotion of cultural diversity; international cooperation agreements to secure the world cultural and natural heritage (World Heritage Sites) and to preserve human rights, and attempts to bridge the worldwide digital divide. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.

Tourism Indochina: Cambodia, UNESCO post sign of world heritage at Angkor Wat temple

(Tourism Indochina: Date : 2008-12-02):

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia and UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) on Monday unveiled the sign of World heritage at the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province, which was listed as a World Heritage in 1992.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Marcio Barbosa, Deputy Director-General of UNESCO, were presided over the ceremony at the Angkor Wat temple.

"It is a great honor for Cambodian people and the world because the Angkor Wat temple is universal for humanities," Hun Sen said at the ceremony with live radio broadcasting.

"We want to use our culture to develop the country through tourism," he said, adding that the country has hundreds of ancient temples.

"We also want to see a ceremony like this at the Preah Vihear temple," he said.

He also expressed concern that local residents in Siem Reap are trying to pump underground water which could cause damage to the Angkor Wat temple..

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Tourism Indochina: Protestors leave Bangkok airports as Thai govt dissolved

Tourism Indochina: Protestors leave Bangkok airports as Thai govt dissolved

(Tourism Indochina:Date : 2008-12-03):

Protestors blockading the two main Bangkok airports have agreed to step down after a Thai court yesterday afternoon found the Prime Minister guilty of election fraud, and as such dissolved his entire cabinet.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have issued a statement that they will now “allow” flights to be reinstated, but that they will maintain vigilant, and threatened to retake control if the new government looked to be another “puppet regime”.

Still, it is unknown when the main hub of Suvarnabhumi will be fully operational for international flights, as airport officials now have the difficult task of rechecking all equipment and security, as well as cataloguing all damages.

Dedicated cargo flights already have authorisation to restart operations from BKK

Earlier, Serirat Prasutanont, Airports of Thailand (AoT) Acting Director, had said that the clean-up process would take nearly a fortnight, and as such the airport would re-open on the 15th of December.

Since then the AoT have reissued statements, saying that there wasn’t as much damage as they had thought, and that full services could resume much more quickly, though how quickly is still uncertain.

With differing officials giving differing opening dates from as soon as today, to Tuesday the 9th of December, no one is quite sure when the airport will be ready to send out flights. Incoming flights on the other hand are expected within 24 hours.

At the moment, the 5th of December is a popular day for a reopen as it’s the Thai King’s birthday; and as such Vudhibhandhu Vichairatana, AoT Chairman has stated that resuming operations on Friday could be a birthday present for the King.

AoT have estimated that the closure of Suvarnabhumi since the 25th of November has cost them some US$1 million.

Protestors have promised to leave the airport by 10am local time today.

Regional airports to take pressure of U-Tapao

With the shutdown of BKK and DMK, a nearby military base has been the scene of most flights in and out of the capital, but due to its small size, the base has been strained with tens of thousands of passengers eager to get out.

Regional airports could help out whilst BKK is reinstated, said officials from the Transport Ministry, and already airports like Chiang Mai and Phuket have seen special flights operating.

Hua Hin, another regional airport, started serving international flights on Monday, with Bangkok Airways putting on additional charter flights to Singapore and Hong Kong.

International governments have been working to extract their nationals from Bangkok, with Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Spain and France already completing several chartered flights.

While New Zealand has become the first country to send in military aid to help evacuate its stranded nationals, with the departure last night of an Air Force Hercules bound for Bangkok.

Britain’s Foreign Office on the other hand has decided not to send charter flights in for its 6,000 or so nationals stranded in Thailand.

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Tourism Indochina: Cambodia and Vietnam Visa Exemption

Cambodia and Vietnam Visa Exemption has been into effected from 04th December 2008 onwards

First Let Read: Cambodia and Vietnam renew its visa exemption agreement

(By Aseanaffairs: November 9, 2008):

Cambodia, Vietnam sign visa agreement
Cambodia has signed a visa exemption agreement with Vietnam for ordinary passport holders during an official visit led by Prime Minister Hun Sen to Hanoi this week, Kyodo news agency quoted a senior government official as saying Saturday.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told reporters Cambodia has similar agreements with Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Laos.

Following his official visit to Vietnam on Tuesday and Wednesday, Hun Sen also participated in regional meetings among Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam on economic cooperation.

Among those meetings was the 3rd ACMECS Summit where the five neighbouring countries discussed implementation of Single Visa Scheme on Friday to facilitate entry into five southeastern Asian countries including Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

ACMECS is short for Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy. Ayeyawady, Chao Phraya and Mekong are three mother rivers that culturally and historically unify these five countries in heart of Southeast Asia.

Those talks ended late Friday.

....

Cambodia and Vietnam Visa Exemption has been into effected from 04th December 2008 onwards

(By TourismIndochina.com:Date : 2008-12-05):

Cambodia & Vietnam Visa Exemption has been into effected from 04th December 2008 onwards Bayon Heritage Travel & Tours wish to inform that the agreement between Cambodia and Vietnam regarding toVisa Exemption will be went into effect on 04th December 2008, reference Reaksmey Kampuchea newspaper No.475,Dated:25th Nov 08. For Cambodian, Cambodian gets Visa Exemption to Malaysia, Singapore, Phillipine and Lao PDR. And Vietnam is the 5th country of Visa Exemption agreement with Cambodia.

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Tourism Indochina: Suvarnabhumi Airport is Getting Back to Business

Tourism Indochina: Suvarnabhumi Airport is Getting Back to Business

(Tourism Indochina: Date : 2008-12-08):

Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport resumed full services from 11 am (0400 GMT) on Friday, after the end of an eight-day siege by anti-government protestors on Wednesday.

Among the airlines resuming operations on Friday were Thai Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways AirAsia and Bangkok Airways.

Emirates, Qantas and Jet Airways resumed full services on Saturday while Lufthansa resumed scheduled flights to Suvarnabhumi on Sunday.

Other major airlines are in the process of resuming their operations to Suvarnabhumi and will continue to do so in the coming days.

At 9am on Friday morning, acting Transport Minister Santi Promphat joined the International Air Transport Association (IATA) officials and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to inspect Suvarnabhumi’s readiness.

Mr Santi expressed confidence that Suvarnabhumi airport is 100 per cent secured, and said that the government would be dedicated to restoring the confidence of tourists and businessmen.

Chaophya Park Hotel & Resorts, General Manager Andrew J Wood expressed the sentiments which are no doubt being felt by all in Thailand’s tourism industry, “we are all looking forward to getting back to business as usual”.

Six Senses Resorts & Spas, Chief Marketing Officer, Raymond Hall has urged Australian not to reconsider their travel plans to Thailand.

“As an Australian living in Bangkok, I have no hesitation at all in saying to come. Thailand has not changed and is still a great experience and is affordable. The demonstrations were unfortunate, to say the least, however, like Australia, Thai politics can be robust.”

He continued, “Quite frankly, many thousands of Thai hospitality workers need the Australian market to have confidence that Thailand has not changed fundamentally. It is still the land of smiles, however corny that may sound, and the hospitality is legendary.

“Already it is possible to get peak period accommodation at low season rates at may destinations, including at Six Senses properties in Hua Hin, Samui, Phuket, and Yao Noi and Naka – just beyond Phuket.

“As far as I am concerned, personal safety of visitors was not an issue in the recent demonstrations. The airport issue was a huge inconvenience to many visitors and very embarrassing to almost all Thais. It really is a great time to visit in a period in which it is often difficult to get accommodations, it is now possible to have choices and at great rates.”

The damage to Thailand’s tourism industry has been colossal with the airport shutdown already costing the tourism- and export-dependent economy hundreds of millions of dollars.

Thailand authorities have said that they are prepared to weather the storm, "We might lose about one million (tourists) but not more than that," Phornsiri Manoharn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, referring to a target of 15.5 million arrivals this year, a 7 percent rise from 2007.

"Most of our tourists are repeat travellers. I've talked to many of them. They said they will come back and they're not worried," she said.

Thailand’s tourism directly employs 1.8 million people and brings in the equivalent of 6 percent of GDP to the county’s coffers.

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