TRAVEL TITBITS

Thailand ranks in ‘Unsafe Top 20’

Thailand ranks among the top 20 unsafe countries for tourists in the world. According to the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 of the World Economic Forum, Thailand ranks 118th out of the 136 countries/territories considered.

This year’s rank is little improved from the last report, in 2015, which ranked Thailand 132nd out of 141 countries.

According to the report, safety and security for tourism refers to the extent to which a country exposes tourists and businesses to security risks mainly related to serious harm to people, including violence and terrorism, while small crime is not taken into account.

The worst country for tourist safety is Colombia, followed by Yemen, El

Salvador, Pakistan, Nigeria, Venezuela, Egypt, Kenya, Honduras, Ukraine, the Philippines, Lebanon, Mali, Bangladesh, Chad, Guatemala, South Africa, Jamaica, Thailand and Congo.

The world’s safest country, on the other hand, is Finland, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Iceland, Oman, Hong Kong, Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, Rwanda and Qatar.

The report also ranks Spain the most competitive in tourism, followed by France and Germany, thanks to worldclass natural and cultural resources, outstanding infrastructure and hospitality. Fourth among the top ten is Japan, followed by the UK, the US, Australia, Italy, Canada and Switzerland.

Thailand ranks 34th, up from 35th, for travel and tourism competitiveness. Positive factors include the natural resources, which rank seventh, tourist services (16th), price competitiveness (18th), air transport (20th), prioritisation of travel and tourism (34th), Cultural resources and business travel (37th), and human resources and labour market (40th). The poor factors, on the other hand, are environmental sustainability (122nd), safety and security (118th) and health and hygiene (90th)

Visit reports.weforum.org.

Green travel trending

The number of travellers staying in an eco-friendly or green accommodation at least once could double this year, according to the global Sustainable Travel Report of Booking.com.

Data was collected in March across 11 markets, with over 1,000 respondents in each. The respondents were 18 or older, travelled at least once in 2016 and plan at least one trip for 2017.

It found that about 65% of global travellers express the intention to stay in green accommodation, versus 34% who stayed in one or more last year.

The top five reasons are: to help reduce environmental impact (52%); to have a locally relevant experience (36%); to support properties that treat the local community better (31%); and provide locally sourced/organic food (30%); and to experience new trends in travel accommodations (24%).

The top five most important ecofriendly practices when considering a property to stay in are solar energy (67%); sustainable water system (43%); low-flow showers (36%); organic restaurants or food options (31%); and recycling baskets in room (29%).

The research also found that travellers consider sustainable travel to mean staying in eco-friendly accommodation (56%); conserving water by reusing towels and bed sheets (38%); and conserving the environment by reducing use of amenity goods such as shampoo, soap, toothbrush and shaving razors (35%).

When travelling, 43% take public transport whenever possible; 42% try to walk, bike or hike as much as possible; and 18% fly less to reduce their carbon footprint.

Airlines update

AirAsia Group has signed a contract with Jeppesen, an air-navigation innovator and Boeing subsidiary, to provide digital charting and electronic flight bag (EFB) services.

“Teaming with Jeppesen to establish digital navigation and EFB services will allow us to continue our transition to a fully digital operating environment,” said AirAsia regional director of Flight Operations Capt Adrian Jenkins.

The agreement covers a total of six airlines within the AirAsia Group, based in Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, India, Indonesia and the Philippines. The AirAsia Group will receive tailored digital flight information and Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro electronic flight-bag services on Windows tablets to optimise operations.

FliteDeck Pro allows the AirAsia group to eliminate paper content, enhance situational awareness, use real-time, data-driven flight information, and reduce flight-preparation time and pilot workload. “Access to digital charts and operating notes on the ground and in the air will help AirAsia-group pilots increase situational awareness and will reduce overall costs through optimised operations,” said John Kinsman, Jeppesen Global sales-and-service vice-president.

Hotels update

Dusit International has signed a contract with Lakeshore Hotels to launch a first Dusit brand hotel in Bangladesh.

Called Dusit Princess Dhaka, it is an upper-midscale business hotel which will feature 80 rooms and 10 suites. Other facilities will include an all-day-dining restaurant, a Grab ‘n’ Go outlet, a meeting room and a rooftop swimming pool.

The 13-storey hotel will be located in the northern part of the capital city and a short drive from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The hotel is scheduled to open at the end of this year.

Email karnjanak@bangkokpost.co.th if you have any comments to share.