Tourism & Hospitality

About the Committee

Mission.

Our goal is to enhance Thailand’s overall tourist and travel experience by helping it to maintain a competitive advantage relative to neighboring alternative destinations in S.E. Asia. The committee has members from approximately 110 AMCHAM companies and targets to meet on the first Thursday each month at 5 pm in the AMCHAM offices and or at member hotel locations depending upon the topic, speaker and availability. Additionally, the TTC looks to support outbound travel from Thailand and the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS) to the U.S. and to promote the USA as a tourist destination. The TTC cooperates with the US Commercial Services officers within the U.S. Embassy Bangkok, to enhance and support the “Brand USA” and B2G ventures which are on-going.

Mission.

2020 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Tourism & Hospitality Committee promotes the Travel and Tourism markets of Thailand and the U.S. by facilitating communication and developing business between Thailand’s private and public sector, and within the AMCHAM community of businesses. This committee discusses travel trends and issues within and affecting the airline, hotel, tour companies, convention, exhibition, business travel, medical tourism, and ground transportation industries. The Committee’s goal is to enhance Thailand’s overall tourist and travel experience by helping it to maintain a competitive advantage relative to neighboring alternative destinations in S.E. Asia.

The Committee conducted five events in 2020, including three partner events and one joint event with the AMCHAM HR Committee. In addition, the committee pursued more government engagement than in previous years, drafting a letter to the Minister of Tourism and Sports in May, and meeting twice with the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, once virtually in July and once in-person in September.

In January, the Committee started with the Thailand Tourism Forum 2020, a partner event that attracted over 900 attendees and is one of the flagship events of the Thai tourism industry. After the emergence of Covid-19 forced all events online, the committee convened a virtual roundtable of members in March 2020 to discuss the pressing challenges facing hospitality members.

In April, the Committee produced a joint event with the HR committee focusing on employment challenges and solutions during Covid-19, featuring the creative approaches taken by many of their hotel members looking to fulfill responsibilities to their staff while ensuring the financial health of their institutions in unprecedented times.

In June, the Committee partnered with C9 Hotelworks to produce a virtual follow up to the Thailand Tourism Forum, and in September the committee supported a virtual production of Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism (PHIST), the leading tourism event in Thailand facilitating knowledge sharing on how to develop tourism in a sustainable manner.