Tourists can experience farm life in Thailand
Pick and choose turns into choose and pick at times for those visiting the Organic Agriculture Project in Sukhothai, Thailand.
The project invites tourists to spend a morning trying typical Thai agricultural practices, among them planting rice by hand and harvesting mangoes with a net… Read >>

Thai resort cooking up some fun
Those staying at the Mai Samui Beach Resort & Spa on the Thai island of Koh Samui are welcome to participate in a little monkey business.
Among resort classes available for guests at the five-star property are ones that teach them to fold towels and napkins into animal shapes, with towels shaped to resemble different creatures placed on guest beds at the oceanfront retreat… Read >>

Canada slated to get ‘ultra-low-cost’ airline
An upcoming entrant in this country’s airlines scene is promising to remove less money from travellers’ pocketbooks when it comes to buying airfares.
Canada Jetlines is slated to begin operations in summer 2018, based in Hamilton and Region of Waterloo International Airport… Read >>

Thai trek seeks higher ground
Chaiwut Phakaew has made the transition from monk to mini-mountain man.
The one-time Buddhist monk now works as a guide on the Thai island of Koh Samui, where, among other things, he leads excursions to the tropical isle of Koh Nangyuan, home to a hill that visitors can hike up if they’re physically up to hoofing up some often steep and rugged terrain in likely steamy tropical weather… Read >>

Park City offers skiers something a little different
Zach Fyne believes a combination of great winter snow and a catchy location for a distillery means Park City, Utah, offers thirsty schussers some great whi-ski.
Fyne, with the Park City Convention & Visitors Bureau, says the alpine resort community’s claims to fame include the High West Distillery & Saloon, the only distillery “in the world that you can ski into.”.. Read >>

Thailand boosting Canadian presence
New Canadian office set to open this fall
Tourism authorities promoting the “Land of Smiles” believe they have every reason to be smiling about Thailand’s tourism prospects in this country.
Thailand hosted more than 200,000 Canadians last year, and authorities note that the Tourism Authority of Thailand is preparing to open its first actual Canadian office this fall that will be staffed by several people… Read >>

Los Cabos takes aim at new markets
Los Cabos wants to make tourism inroads into the eastern part of this country.
Rodrigo Esponda, who oversees the Los Cabos Tourism Board, told a recent Toronto gathering that his Pacific coast destination sees nonstop flights from eight Canadian cities, most of them in the West… Read >>

Kenya trips going ahead as planned
Monitoring the situation
Two adventure tour specialists say their Kenya tours are continuing uneventfully following sporadic violence in the run-up to and aftermath of the country’s Aug. 8 election.
Dozens of people were reported killed before and after the vote, with clashes between rioters and police at times seeing police use both gunfire and teargas to disperse crowds angered at an election process some claimed was rigged… Read >>

New Zealand woos agents with Explore PLUS
Seeing is believing when it comes to travel agents selling New Zealand, according to Tourism New Zealand.
The tourism promotion body has announced that North American travel agents can now plan and book independent fam trips with Tourism New Zealand’s new Explore PLUS Program, which offers IATA and CLIA agents more than 500 air, land, accommodation and attraction discounts, along with the resources to design a “personally curated New Zealand itinerary.”… Read >>

Plenty of reasons to sell groups
Michelle Palma says there’s no shortage of reasons why travel agents should book groups with the company she promotes.
And Palma, vice-president, sales – Canada for Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, says the actual Uniworld vessels are among those reasons… Read >>

Korea is going for the gold in 2018
Tourism officials expect major benefits from Olympics
Let the Games-related excitement begin!
The PyeongChang Winter Olympics are nearing and that in turn has the Korea Tourism Organization upbeat about Korea’s upcoming tourism prospects, with John Hyungkwan Park – director of the KTO’s Canadian office – confident that the athletic spectacular will generate a huge amount of favourable publicity for his nation… Read >>

IT’S TIME FOR THAILAND
Shubert picked for TAT’s new Canadian office
A familiar face will continue to play a pivotal role in Thai tourism promotion efforts in this country. Kayla Shubert, who’s been carrying the flag for the Tourism Authority of Thailand in Canada for over a decade, will take on the national marketing manager role… Read >>