On 27 June 2019, the One-Day Tourism Seminar on “China-Ready” was successfully held in Bangkok, Thailand. H.E. Mr. Chen Dehai, Secretary-General of ASEAN-China Centre (ACC), ?H.E. Mr. Chote Trachu, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Kingdom of Thailand (MoTS), Ms. Chang Yumeng, Cultural Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Bangkok, Ms. Zhang Xinhong, Director of China National Tourist Office in Bangkok and around 110 participants of local tourism stakeholders, university teachers, immigration officers and provincial tourism staff attended the Seminar.

Cultural Counsellor Chang Yumeng delivered a speech congratulating on the convention of the event in Bangkok and briefed on the development of people-to-people exchanges between Thailand and China. She said that the Seminar co-organized by ACC and MoTS served well the needs of Thailand-China tourism ?market and sustainable growth of the two-way tourist visits.

Secretary-General Chen Dehai thanked MoTS and the two academic partners of China, Beijing Union University (BUU) and Guilin Tourism University (GTU), for their contributions to the Seminar. He stated that Thailand and China enjoy cultural affinity and brotherly friendship, which is vividly reflected by “Jeen Thai Phee Nong Gan (Thailand and China are brothers)”. The all-round Thailand-China cooperation has delivered tangible benefits to the peoples of both sides. China is not only the largest source of inbound tourists for Thailand, but also has contributed the biggest sum of tourist expenditures in Thailand. This Seminar could bring concrete benefits to the tourism sector and help improve Thailand’ s global competitiveness and sustainable growth, he said.

On behalf of MoTS, Permanent Secretary Chote Trachu extended warm welcome to the ACC delegation and spoke highly of this Seminar which helps Thai tourism stakeholders better understand Chinese culture and the behaviors of Chinese tourists. As China is now the biggest source of inbound tourists for Thailand, he observed that Chinese tourists have a remarkable impact in the economy and tourism trend in Thailand. He thanked ACC for its efforts to improve the quality of tourism cooperation between the two countries, and truly believed that Chinese tourists would have wonderful experience traveling in Thailand because of the great relationship between the two countries.

The One-Day Tourism Seminar on “China-Ready” is one of the flagship projects of ACC conducted in the 10 ASEAN Member States. Experts from Beijing Union University and Guilin Tourism University gave four lectures focusing on Chinese culture, outbound travel trends, tourism product analysis, tourism quality services and new media marketing. How to take full advantage of the tourism resources and potentials of the country and how to guarantee the quality of tourism service through capacity building were among the hot topics discussed during the Seminar. On the same day, an awarding ceremony was also held, during which the 4 lecturers from BUU and GTU and the representatives of local participants were presented certificates by Secretary-General Chen Dehai and Ms. Jiraporn Prommaha, Director of International Affairs Division of MoTS.

During his stay in Thailand, Secretary-General Chen Dehai also exchanged views with H.E. Mr. Lyu Jian, Chinese Ambassador to Thailand on deepening cooperation in various fields between Thailand and China.