The pandemic is no excuse to not move forward. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is joining hands with 40 public and private agencies as well as academic institutes in a project, the Rural Tourism Awards, aimed at promoting and upgrading community tourism in the Kingdom.
Twenty-five qualified villages from across the Kingdom have been selected as candidates. They will be vying for the top spots in five categories as follows:
- Best Creative Experience
- Best for Agrotourism
- Best Homestay
- Best for Responsible Tourism
- Best for Company Outing.
The winner and runners-up in each category will be decided by both the scores from the judging committee (70%) and votes from the public (30%). Online voting, which will take place on a website to be created for the purpose, will begin in early September although the exact date is yet to be announced. By then, the website will be filled with video clips and other content about each of the participating villages to help the voters make a well-informed decision. Hopefully, voters will also find new ideas for their next holidays.
The awards presentation ceremony is scheduled for Sept 27, which coincides with World Tourism Day.
In late 2020, TAT and the same group of partners will hold the Otop (One Tambon One Product) Tourism Awards, which will be divided into the following five categories:
- Household and
- Decorative Items
- Herbal Products
- Food and Drinks
- Textile and Clothing
- Miscellaneous Products.
For these awards, the candidates will be 100 selected villages from all regions. The judging process will be similar to that of the Rural Tourism Awards.
For details and updates, visit the Thailand Rural Tourism Awards page on Facebook.
