SKÅL International Koh Samui Supports Thai Government’s Plan to Open to Vaccinated Tourists in October 2021

Published on : Tuesday, March 23, 2021

SKÅL International Koh Samui [SKÅL Samui] believes that the proposed plan to vaccinate local Samuians, together with the testing and vaccination of incoming travellers to Thailand, is the correct way forward following a year of economic turmoil on the island, which is heavily dependent on international visitors.

“The advantage that Samui has as an island is that sufficient controls can be effectively put in place to allow the lifting of quarantine regulations, enabling travellers to return under a programme currently being referred to as the Travel Pass,” said SKÅL Samui President, American hotelier James McManaman.

Meanwhile, McManaman and his new Executive Committee are committed to regenerating business through their dynamic tourism recovery campaign, #ReDiscoverSamui which launched in October 2020 and has received plaudits from Skål clubs around the world. The campaign is designed to showcase the very best of the paradise island in the Gulf of Thailand.

The #ReDiscoverSamui campaign was created to bring immediate help and ongoing support to the island’s Covid-embattled travel and hospitality sector. It encompasses a series of initiatives to raise awareness of the island’s appeal to domestic tourism while Thailand’s borders, for the most part, remain closed.

Among them are a new video showcasing the stunning natural beauty and lifestyle highlights of Samui and surrounding islands. There is a successful media outreach programme of customised island experiences for key social local media bloggers. Once the borders open, key regional and international feeder markets will be targeted.

To date, #ReDiscoverSamui social media campaign has attracted more than 10 million viewers (and rising) and created a significant spike in room sales as reported by some members.

To help equip members with “best practice’ business skills, SKÅL Samui has also launched a series of seminars aimed at helping its members through the recovery process.

PR consultants Susan Field and Lynn Grebstad joined forces to present a Marketing Communications Basics seminar to a full house in February, followed by an enlightening Social Media session a few days later by social media gurus, Jane Soergel, Jeff Boonyoung and Rahim Salim.

Both sessions were fully subscribed and the feedback extremely positive, with members saying what they had learned had ‘definitely helped’ them to rethink and improve their marketing plans.

McManaman said; “As our primary focus is now on social media to generate much-needed bookings, it’s essential that our members understand how it works and how they can benefit.”

A third seminar was presented by ‘CUBE Consulting’ founder and SKÅL Samui member, Philip Schaetz who conducted a Strategic Planning & Forecasting for Hotels and Travel Businesses workshop. The one-day seminar, targeting hotel managers and owners, focused on a pro-active approach to business and the use of data in SMART decision-making to optimise revenues and profits, both during and post-Covid.

“As the world enters its second year of the Covid pandemic and with the prospects of a slow path to recovery, SKÅL is proud to be at the forefront of tourism recovery where it’s needed most.” said McManaman, “In this case, we are helping our members and their companies to review and refresh their marketing strategies for what is now a vastly different world of travel and hospitality.

“Our campaign underscores the organisation’s overall mission of ‘Connecting Global Tourism’” and reinforces the global motto of SKÅL Int’l, “Doing Business Among Friends”, he added.

SKÅL Samui is also collaborating closely with Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT), Tourist Association of Koh Samui (TAKS) and the Thai Hotels Association in rolling out the #ReDiscoverSamui campaign.