TRAVEL SHOW AND TOURISM FESTIVAL IN NORTHEAST THAILANDThailand’s northeastern province of Udon Thani, home of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is to host a Travel Show and Tourism Festival between 15-17 February, 2008, at Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel and Charoensri Department Store Complex in the provincial capital city.
The events are being organised by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Northeastern Region 5 to promote tourism in the Northeast and the surrounding regions, and highlight the province’s growing importance as a bridgehead to the neighbouring country of Lao PDR.
A prime business centre of Northeast Thailand (known locally as I-san), the province is located 564 kilometres from Bangkok. It is probably best known for its archaeological wonders, paramount among them the hamlet of Ban Chiang where the world's first Bronze Age civilization is believed to have flourished more than 5,000 years ago.
The Vietnam War transformed the sleepy provincial city of Udon Thani into a booming support centre for a nearby American airbase. Since the withdrawal of American troops in 1976, it has continued to grow as an industrial and commercial centre within the region.
The I-san Tourism Festival open to the public is designed to promote Udon Thani as a centre of tourism products and services in the upper northeast region and publicise its destinations and tour packages. It will also feature a marketplace of local products made by local communities.
The Udon Travel Show will be held for trade-only participants on 16 February, 2008, at the Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel, allowing local tour operators to offer their packages to buyers from other regions, including Lao PDR., Vietnam and Malaysia.
Later that day, there will be a special lecture on “Low emission Thai tourism to reduce global warming” by special lecturer Dr. Jiraphol Sindhunava at the same hotel. The lecture is designed to help the travel industry become more aware of the growing impact of climate change and how everyone in the industry can help to combat it.
According to TAT figures, in 2006, Northeast Thailand welcomed 21 million visitors or up 8.46% over 2005. Of these, 20 million were Thais and the rest foreigners. The top three visited provinces were Nakhon Ratchasima (4.9 million) followed by Khon Kaen (2.4 million) and Udon Thani (2.11 million).
In January – September 2007, Udon Thani welcomed 1.54 million visitors, a decline of 1.78% over the same period of 2006. The province has 37 accommodation establishments with a total of 3,089 rooms.
TAT officials are hoping that the trade show and festival will boost both the number of visitors as well as the average length of stay and daily expenditure throughout the Northeast. | 
