Top news stories plus show reports from ATF and Go West

THE 37th ASEAN Tourism Forum took place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with nearly 300 organisations attending the showcase of southeast Asia’s tourism products.

Thailand’s second city, in its rural north, was the perfect venue for the Tourism Authority of Thailand to announce that its new marketing strategy for 2018/19 is ‘Go local’.

Tourism ministers gathered at ATF explained that new tax deductions recently introduced will help drive tourism into around 55 ‘secondary provinces’ by letting visitors claim money back off certain hotels and tours.

Tanes Petsuwan, Deputy Governor of TAT, believes that the scheme, which is initially open to domestic travellers before later being extended to international arrivals, will help to encourage tourists to visit lesserknown regions’ by “extending their trips to Lampang province after visiting the ever popular Chiang Mai, for example”.

Last year 994,468 UK travellers visited Thailand. New campaigns such as ‘Go Local’ are designed to tempt visitors to return to see parts of Thailand that they may not have previously considered. tourismthailand.org