Agents want better ticketing, training The Thai Travel Agents' Association (TTAA) will set up two committees to create strategies which develop and promote the outbound tour industry, says president Anake Srishevachart. The outbound and ticketing committees will each have seven members who are professionals in outbound tours and air ticketing, he said. "I can't tell you when the committees will be completed, because we need members who are ready to work hard and with integrity. But we'll try to make it as fast as possible," Anake said. The outbound committee's initial mission will be to create sales and marketing activities, highlighted by the TTAA Consumer Fair, which the association hopes to hold twice a year. "The Tourism Authority of Thailand focuses only on domestic and inbound tours, so the TTAA must organise its own fair to promote outbound tours," Anake said. In the meantime the TTAA will have a supporting role at the International Travel Show at Impact Arena from August 22-24. The event is being organised by Singapore-based travel magazine TTG. "I hope next year we will be ready to hold the fair by ourselves," Anake said. The outbound committee will also develop new products and services and establish industry-training courses. The ticketing committee's role will be to create a relationship with the airlines and liaise with related associations to protect member benefits. The committee will also connect with industry groups in Asean to develop an air-ticket selling system. It can also appoint a subcommittee or working team to solve specific problems such as cutting commission rates. In addition the TTAA will set up an advisory board which will funnel useful advice to the association. The board will have 10 advisors, drawn from the outbound-tour and air-ticketing fields. Anake meanwhile said the government should support the outbound-tour industry as it did inbound-tour businesses because tourism was a two-way industry. "No country wants to be disadvantaged, so if the Thai government doesn't support people travelling overseas, Thailand will find it tough to receive good cooperation on tourism from other counties," he said. Anake added that the outbound-tour industry was on the upturn like the economy while the overall tourism market would rebound in the second half of the year, making up for the bird flu and southern-violence in the first six months. "The important thing is to regain the confidence of foreign tourists, especially in sensitive markets like Japan and Europe, and show tourists that Thailand is still a safe destination for them," |he said. Satawasin Staporncharnchai THE NATION