|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.47/52
Bid/Ask
|
GOLD |
Closed
-
|
|
B2.3bn project to be considered next week
CHATRUDEE THEPARAT
The long-delayed proposal to construct a 2.3-billion-baht convention hall in Chiang Mai will be sent to the cabinet for approval next week.
Construction would be financed through the 2009 fiscal budget and tied-over funds into fiscal 2010, according to Sasithara Pichaichannarong, the permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
She said the budget had been increased from 1.9 billion baht proposed earlier to reflect higher construction costs.
The project, initiated by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, would be located on a 400-rai site in Muang district. Construction is scheduled to take two years.
Ms Sasithara said the hall was part of a development plan to reposition the northern province as a destination for the meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (Mice) business in place of leisure travel, which has been declining.
Chiang Mai has been seen as a leisure tourism destination for 30 years but few new tourism products have been developed to attract return visitors.
Hotel occupancy in Chiang Mai has averaged less than 50% for the past three years due to an oversupply.
According to the Chiang Mai Tourism Association, while tourist arrivals rose an average of 7% annually from 2005-07, there was a double-digit increase in the number of hotel rooms developed.
Tourism and Sports Ministry figures showed 20,816 hotel rooms in Chiang mai at the end of 2007, compared with 16,673 in 2005.
Revenue from tourism in the province has also been declining. The figure for 2007 was 39 billion baht, down from 40 billion in 2006 and an average of 45 billion baht between 2001 and 2005.
The number of visitors to Chiang Mai was 5.59 million in 2006, up 39% from 2005, mainly driven by the Royal Flora exhibition, but the figure declined by 4.4% to 5.35 million in 2007.
Chiang Mai has good facilities to serve the higher-end business and meetings market, including an expanded airport that will be able to handle 6.5 million passengers in 2009, up from 2.5 million this year, and an estimated 3,000 luxury hotel rooms.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Next
